


I'm Yellow, You're Natural Blue

by OrangePatrick



Series: CHB AU [1]
Category: Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Camp Half-Blood, Demigods, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-09-21 17:55:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9560399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrangePatrick/pseuds/OrangePatrick
Summary: Geoff, a son of Apollo, is nineteen going on twenty this summer, making him the oldest demigod at Camp Half-Blood. For the past year he's been pining over his seventeen-year-old best friend, Awsten, who seems to have a crush on someone else. However, Geoff is determined not to let this summer end like the last: no undeclared feelings-- if he can muster up the courage to go through with it.





	1. Favorite Few

**Author's Note:**

> if you're unfamiliar with the pjo series: i THINK you can enjoy this anyway?? idk you probably just need a base understanding of who the greek gods are
> 
> if you are familiar with pjo: i've only read the original 5 books so i'm pretending for the sake of fic that the others don't exist, sorry

“I think it’s her eyes,” Awsten sighs, tucking his head against his best friend’s shoulder. “They’re just… so green. They get me every time.”

 

Geoff, personally, is under the impression that it’s more to do with the fact that Awsten’s crush is from the Aphrodite cabin than her green eyes. But he’s a good best friend, so he just wraps an arm around Awsten’s shoulders and swings his feet over the edge of the dock. “You’ll get her someday, man,” he says encouragingly, like the words don’t twist his insides in the most unpleasant way.

 

Awsten stares out at the lake silently, lost in thought. He first came to Camp Half Blood when he was eleven, like a lot of other demigods. It was where he met Geoff, who was two and a half years older than him and helped show Awsten the ropes of camp. The blue-haired boy is the only camper currently in Cabin 3, Poseidon’s cabin, which had been mostly unused since the infamous Percy Jackson had lived there. Awsten likes having his own space, though, especially now that he’s seventeen. He can’t imagine what it must be like for Geoff or Otto, as both of their cabins always seem to both be bursting with campers and activity. He’d go crazy always being surrounded by half-siblings, especially as new campers come each year, always with the same questions:  _ wait, that’s your natural hair color? _ and  _ wait, those are your natural eyes? _

 

Geoff had asked those questions once, that first year. But he hadn’t asked them the same way as anyone else: he didn’t sound skeptical or rude or anything but genuinely curious, and when Awsten answered  _ yes _ and  _ yes, _ Geoff had smiled like the sun and said  _ cool _ and continued on. Geoff just goes with the flow. He’s easy to be around, and he always listens. Then Geoff had introduced Awsten to Otto, a long-haired boy a year older than Awsten who hailed from Cabin 11. The three of them clicked, and Awsten wouldn’t trade his best friends for all the ambrosia in Olympus. Otto is the same kind of relaxed quiet that Geoff is, but a bit more low-key. He joins them on adventures when he wants to and can be flighty during activities, but Awsten pins that on the fact that Otto’s dad is Hermes.

 

Back then, Awsten muses, he probably had a kid-crush on Geoff, seeing as Geoff was an older boy, had been nice, had been the one to show him around. Plus, Geoff could play guitar, and then he’d offered to teach  _ Awsten _ how to play guitar when he was thirteen. His current muse, though, is a pretty blonde girl from Aphrodite with these gorgeous green eyes who smiles at him from across the pavilion during meals. The other night at the first bonfire of the summer, she’d sat next to Awsten, but he could barely manage a word around her. It was ridiculous, hence the current feeling sorry for himself with Geoff on the docks.

 

When Awsten’s eyes almost glaze over in his ‘deep thought’ expression, Geoff drops his arm from the teenager’s shoulders and lays back on the dock, closing his eyes and enjoying the summer sun on his face. He’ll be turning twenty at the end of the summer, and he’s not really sure why he thinks it’ll be weird to suddenly not be a teenager at camp anymore. He stays here at Camp Half Blood year-round like several other kids, but he’s definitely been around a lot longer than most. Not many demigods make it past their twenties. And how is he spending this last summer? Probably watching his seventeen year old best friend fall in love with someone else, moping about it, and continuing to silently pine like he has been for the past year, all on top of his duties as Apollo cabin counselor, which means dealing with all of his siblings’ dramas as well. Hooray, children of theater and arts.

 

See, Awsten goes home for the school year. He’s a regular teenager for nine months of the year. Last summer, Geoff felt like they’d gotten so much closer, and by August, he almost thought that Awsten reciprocated his  _ feelings _ feelings. There were moments like these, sitting on the dock, their thighs touching and the sun glittering against the water, where they leaned too close into each other and whispered in each other’s ears even though there was no one else there to overhear. But then on the last day of camp, Awsten had just hugged Geoff a tight goodbye, promised to be in touch, and was gone without another word. If he’d felt any of the things that Geoff was, it was apparent that he didn’t find them worth acting on. So now, nine months later, Geoff is struggling with having Awsten back but not  _ having _ Awsten. And now Awsten has a crush on a girl and Geoff kind of hates her for it.

 

It’s an irrational hatred, he knows, but it’s just that feeling that you get towards the person that your crush likes. He knows her name’s Ciara, and she’s a total sweetheart, takes after the good side of her mom, Aphrodite, and she’s never done anything to deserve Geoff’s dislike. But Awsten is fawning over her now and it makes Geoff wanna tear out his eyes. She’s also only a year older than Awsten, which is probably less weird than the two and a half year gap between Awsten and Geoff.

 

With a silent sigh, Geoff cracks open one eye to look at Awsten, who is still staring off into nothing. A small grin dances across Geoff’s lips as he slowly sits up, doing his best not to catch Awsten’s attention. Then, with a sudden burst of speed, Geoff lurches forward, wrapping his arms around Awsten’s waist before sending both of them tumbling into the lake. Awsten gasps out of his reverie just a second too late to stay dry, and his hair is plastered down over his eyes when he kicks back to the surface, coughing out, “Bitch! What was that for?”

 

But he’s laughing, so Geoff shoves his wet hair out of his eyes and laughs too, dragging himself back up onto the dock to sprawl out in the sun. Suddenly, a short vision blinds him momentarily, of old tennis shoes running down the path towards the docks. Perk of being a child of the god of prophecy-- all of Apollo’s demigods have mild prophetic ability.

 

“Otto’s on his way,” Geoff says, watching Awsten struggle back out of the water.

 

“Gimme a hand,” Awsten answers, reaching out.

 

Stupidly, Geoff complies, grabbing Awsten’s outstretched hand, only for the son of Poseidon to pull him back into the lake.

 

“Okay, I deserved that,” Geoff admits, reaching back for the dock. The lake water seems to grab him by the waist and lift him up, making it easier to get out. Geoff laughs at the help. “If you wanted to touch my butt, you could do it without the lake.”

 

“You’re a loser,” Awsten snorts, perfectly dry despite being dunked into the water just moments before.

 

“Yeah, but I’m  _ your _ loser,” Geoff coos, pinching Awsten’s cheek.

 

“Are you guys being gross?” Otto asks from the top of the dock, the sudden sound of his voice catching his friends off guard, causing Geoff to jerk his hand away from Awsten.

 

“Geoff’s being mean!”

 

“I told Awsten he could touch my butt and he called me a loser!”

 

Otto shakes his head in dismay. “Passing up good opportunities, Awsten. But also I came with a message: the Ares and Athena cabins are planning a capture the flag game before the summer gets into full swing. Right now Athena has Hephaestus, Dionysus, and Aphrodite, but Ares has Demeter, Hermes, and Apollo. Are you guys playing?”

 

“I probably should, since I’m the Apollo counselor,” Geoff sighs, pushing himself onto his feet.

 

“Sweet, I’ll let Ares know that we’ve got Poseidon, too.”

 

Awsten frowns. “Hey, I never said I was gonna play.”

 

“Yeah, but if Geoff is playing then it’s just kind of assumed that you’re on his side,” Otto shrugs, grinning. “I mean, it’s true, isn’t it?”

 

“Or you can play for Aphrodite’s side,” Geoff teases, already heading up away from the dock so that neither of his friends can see his face. He hopes his tone doesn’t sound as upset to them as it does to him.

 

Awsten’s frown deepens at Geoff’s retreating back.

 

“What’s up with him?” Otto asks, obviously concerned.

 

“I’m not sure,” Awsten answers helplessly. “He hasn’t said anything to me.”

 

Awsten does end up joining Athena’s cabin and teammates, kind of feeling like he’s got something to prove. Just because he’s been glued to Geoff’s side since they met six years ago doesn’t mean that they can’t be apart or on different teams for just one game. That would be ridiculous.

 

Except he does feel kind of weird fighting against Apollo’s kids. He and Ciara are guarding the riverside border of the North Woods, Awsten knee-deep in the water and Ciara pacing along the shore. She looks focused, shield tucked tight against her ribs as she twists her sword, and as much as Awsten wants to try to start conversation, he just doesn’t really know how. Half of the rest of their team is already on the other sides, trying to infiltrate the Ares flag base.

 

The river nudges him, drawing him left, where a small group of Apollo kids are crossing the border. They fire off a series of arrows when they see Awsten and Ciara rushing over, but Awsten blocks them with a shield of water. Ciara ducks around him, immediately launching into a close fight to try to fend them off. Awsten does his best to give her cover, twisting the river around them, finally forcing the enemy group towards the Athena-side jail.

 

“C’mon, this might have been a diversion from a different group,” Ciara says, rushing back down the way that they came. “We’ve left the whole center border open.”

 

Awsten follows her, using the water to see if she’s right. It tells him that yes, another group is crossing-- but monsters are creeping out of the forestline, so the fight is not urgent.

 

It’s a mixed group of Ares and Apollo kids, and Awsten’s eyes are immediately drawn to Geoff, who has a golden bow in his hand, arrow nocked and ready. They’re on the Athena side of the river, which is what Awsten and Ciara are supposed to prevent, but a duo of giant scorpions has crawled out from the forest and seem to be attempting an attack. Ciara motions for Awsten to block the group from the back, but the son of Poseidon is too busy focusing on the fact that his best friend’s left side is completely unguarded-- in fact, the intruding group’s entire left flank is weak, obviously not expecting to get circled during the strike mission. When the first scorpion leaps, Awsten acts on instinct, drawing up a wave and throwing it against the monster’s side just as Geoff turns and launches his arrow. The giant scorpion disintigrates, leaving nothing but a pool of water and a Celestial bronze-tipped arrow behind. Meanwhile, the Ares kids have easily taken out the second.

 

Geoff shoots Awsten a grin and a thumbs up. “Thanks for the assist.” Then he and the rest of his group rush off into the forest towards the flag that Awsten is supposed to be guarding.

 

A little breathless, Awsten answers to the trees, “Uh, yeah, no problem.”

 

“You just  _ helped them!” _ Ciara gapes in disbelief, green eyes flashing. “Are you serious?! We could have totally stopped them!”

 

Awsten cards a hand through his hair. “Fuck, sorry. It just looked like it was gonna...” he trails off, knowing that he’s just digging himself deeper into this hole.

 

“I’m gonna go see if I can catch up to them and get a few of them out,” Ciara frowns. “Stay here and don’t let anyone through, okay?”

 

Awsten sighs as he watches her go. He should’ve just played for the Ares team with Geoff and Otto. The game ends when a girl from the Athena cabin bursts from the Ares side of the forest, flag in hand, and Awsten shields her from a spray of arrows with a large wave. The once-red banner turns silver.

  
His team won, but he doesn’t quite feel like it.


	2. Double Dare Me

“Hey.”

 

Awsten looks up from his lunch to see Ciara standing in front of the Poseidon table, where the blue-haired boy sits by himself. He’s pretty sure that no one would smite him if he went to sit with Otto or Geoff, but their tables are usually the most full and he has always been uncomfortable with people watching him eat. “Uh, hi.”

 

Ciara gives him a bright smile. “The Aphrodite cabin is going down to the lake to canoe after lunch, and we’ve got an odd number. Care to join?”

 

She feels a little bad about snapping at him during capture the flag last night, because it hadn’t really been a full-fledged game like the weekly Friday matches will be once the summer gets into full swing. Besides, Ciara has been trying to befriend Awsten since they got here, because she can’t imagine how lonely it must be to be the only person in your cabin. Granted, there are several times per day where she and her siblings would love to have cabins all to themselves-- usually in the mornings, when they’re all getting ready and have to spread their wardrobes out to find the perfect outfit. It is nice, though, to have siblings to give each other pointers and help correct clothing or hair mishaps. So seeing Awsten all alone, when all the other tables have at least two kids each, makes her want to include him.

 

“Yeah, okay, sure,” Awsten replies, sounding a bit surprised by the offer.

 

“Sweet! We’ll make sure to grab you on our way down,” Ciara grins, turning on her heel and heading back over to her own. When she takes her seat again, she briefly glances up and catches the eye of Awsten’s friend from Apollo-- Geoff, she thinks his name is? He’s got that Apollo glow, a kind of hipster-y punk cuteness that she can appreciate the aesthetic of, but he’s staring at her with a weird look, so she tries to give him a smile. He quickly averts his eyes, looking down at his food and letting his long hair fall into his face. Weird.

 

Awsten thought that canoeing with Cabin 10 would be awkward, but it actually is a lot of fun, once he gets past one of the newer girls, maybe thirteen or so, asking him what kind of hair dye he uses. (“I don’t,” he has to answer, sighing. “It’s naturally blue.”)

 

He and Ciara share a canoe because, like she’d told him at lunch, there were seven kids in the cabin and while canoes have room for three, that still would have been a weird add-up. He enjoys being out in the lake, though-- it makes him feel relaxed, at peace. When the water stills and the four canoes just drift, far enough into the center of the lake to not worry about steering, Awsten remembers doing this last summer with Geoff: they’d taken a canoe out, just the two of them. Geoff had brought his guitar, confident that Awsten wouldn’t let it get wet and ruined, and had casually strummed it while Awsten pushed and pulled the canoe with gentle waves. Last summer had been electric with something that Awsten couldn’t quite reach, hidden between the lines of a continuous summer-long game of Truth or Dare that sometimes stretched a little too far for either of them to veer from. The game had ended when Awsten had left in August, with a place in his gut thinking that if Geoff had just dared him to stay, dared him to forget Housten and live at camp, then Awsten wouldn’t have backed down.

 

He doesn’t want to think about it, because it’s done now. Things are different and yet everything is the same as it always has been, and Awsten is okay with that.

 

Cabin 10 is content to sit quietly, tentatively running their fingers along the surface of the lake every once in a while and watching the ripples spread. Awsten hears a few of them murmuring in French to each other, one of the gifts of Aphrodite. The quiet is soothing rather than uncomfortable.

 

“You must spend a lot of time out here,” Ciara guesses, looking down at some water nymphs as she says it.

 

Awsten follows her gaze. “Yeah, me an’ Geoff spent like, ninety percent of last summer in the water. I always feel most comfortable here.”

 

“Geoff is your Apollo friend, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Ciara hums, thinking about her next choice of words, knowing that she’s looking for a reaction from the boy sitting across from her. “He’s pretty cute-- does he have a girlfriend?”

 

Awsten snorts at that, then frowns. There’s a twisting in his stomach at her words, and it must be because the girl that he has a crush on just said that his best friend is cute. He won’t let himself think that it could be anything else. “Nah, Geoff’s--” Awsten starts to reply, but then he’s not really sure that he should be outing his best friend to people. “Geoff’s never really been a relationship person, I don’t think,” he corrects. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard him have a crush on anyone ever. He just likes making friends and being nice to everyone.”

 

Awsten doesn’t notice the way Ciara watches him, the little smile that appears on her glossed lips. It’s not hard to figure out that Geoff certainly _does_  have a crush on someone, and she sincerely thinks that it’s adorable. “I see. What about you?” she asks. “Girlfriend? Boyfriend?”

 

Awsten laughs at that. “Nah, no one. I’m, uh, I always get too nervous. Around people that I like. It just gets uncomfortable for everyone involved, really. I’m kinda awkward like that.”

 

“Awkward is cute, though,” Ciara teases. She hasn’t ever noticed Awsten being awkward around Geoff, so maybe her observations have been wrong. Is it really a one-sided thing? The hopeless romantic in her wants Geoff’s pining to be reciprocated, but she feels like it’s not really her time or place to interfere.

 

Awsten blushes at her statement and twists his fingers in the water.

 

 _Oh. Oh, dear_ , Ciara realizes suddenly. So it’s her that Awsten likes. And if she’s right about Geoff’s one-sided feelings, then that would explain the weird look he’d gotten at lunch after she’d talked to Awsten… _Oh dear, indeed._

After about an hour or so, some of Ciara’s half-siblings start complaining about getting too much sun without enough sunscreen, so the four canoes head back toward the docks. Awsten does most of the work putting the canoes up, but he’s not upset about it, enjoying a few extra minutes near the lake while Aphrodite’s children head back to their cabin. Ciara sticks around for a moment longer, giving him a smile and saying, “I’m really glad you joined us. We should do this again sometime, yeah?”

 

“Yeah, totally,” Awsten grins back.

 

Elated, he goes straight for the archery range after he finishes tying up the canoes, hoping to hunt down his favorite cabin counselor. Sure enough, Cabin 11 appears to be having a fierce range competition, the targets a little over one hundred yards from the shooters. So far, none of the embedded arrows are more than five inches from a bullseye.

 

He finds Geoff acting as a referee of some kind, standing along the boundary and making sure none of his campers are stepping past the designated line.

 

“Too old to play archery games now, huh?” Awsten teases as he approaches his best friend.

 

Geoff’s smile when he sees Awsten is almost blinding. “What?” he drawls, shaking his head. The sun glints off his golden nose ring. “Nah, these dirty cheaters need someone to keep ‘em in line. You’d think they’re a bunch of Hermes kids with the way they’re trying to steal their wins.” He says the last sentence a bit louder, making sure his cabin mates hear him. A few of them scowl and make faces, sticking out their tongues or rolling their eyes. “Besides,” Geoff adds sarcastically, “I’m way too good for this to even be a challenge. Just gotta teach the little ones some basics.”

 

Awsten giggles at that. “Yeah, sure, basics. Totally.”

 

The archery game wraps up a few rounds later with no clear winner, and when Awsten asks Geoff about what the competition even was, he just laughs and shrugs. “It was mostly just practice. Pretending like there’s a reward gets them to work harder, honestly.”

 

The group heads back towards the cabin area for a bit of free time after diligently putting away every bow and arrow into its place in the armory. Awsten is actually kind of impressed with their attention to detail, but it’s probably just part of their love for the skill.

 

“You wanna go hang out at the dock?” Geoff asks, then immediately shakes his head. “Wait, no, you were just down there. How was canoeing?”

 

“You know I’m always down for hanging out on the dock,” Awsten grins, heading towards the path. “Canoeing was actually pretty relaxing. I didn’t realize that Aphrodite’s kids were so quiet. There wasn’t too much talking. It was nice.”

 

Geoff wants to ask if it made Awsten think about last summer, but he squashes the urge. “That’s cool. How’s the Ciara thing going?”

 

Awsten frowns. “To be honest, it kinda seemed like she wanted to talk about you…? I mean, I guess when I talk about myself then I automatically also talk about you, since you’re like, a solid eighty percent of my life, but she asked me if you had a girlfriend.”

 

Geoff raises an eyebrow and giggles. “Did you tell her that I’m a flaming homosexual?”

 

“No,” Awsten laughs, shaking his head. “What kind of friend would I be if I outed you to the first girl to show interest?”

 

Geoff had been joking when he’d asked, but it makes him feel warm that Awsten didn’t out him to someone who was, to Geoff, a total stranger. He likes that Awsten thinks about that kind of thing.

 

When they reach the very edge of the dock, standing over the water and looking out at the lake, Awsten bites his lip and says, “I dare you to touch the bottom. With your hand.”

 

Geoff startles at the memory of their game and it makes something flutter in his side. “That’s easy. You want me to grab some sand for you while I’m there?”

 

“Yeah. Prove that you’ve gone through with it.”

 

Rolling his eyes, Geoff pulls off his t-shirt and takes several large steps away from the edge in order to get a proper running start. Awsten is watching him with this little grin that sets off more butterflies in Geoff’s stomach, and he almost messes up his dive because he’s thinking about the blue-green eyes watching him.

 

Near the docks, the water isn’t too horribly deep, only probably thirteen feet or so. Farther out, it gets deeper, something that doesn’t bother Awsten but would be impossible for Geoff because, y’know, not everyone is unaffected by water pressure and the whole ‘needing to come up for air’ inconvenience. But at thirteen feet, the dive is super easy, something that Geoff has done a thousand times before. It’s an easy dare to start off the summer with, he realizes as he scoops up the gross mucky sand at the bottom of the lake. He thinks he sees some nymphs smiling and waving at him, but without Awsten he can’t really open his eyes underwater too well, and his lungs are starting to scream for oxygen, so he kicks back up.

 

When Geoff breaks the surface, he slaps a handful of mud onto the dock before dragging himself up. Awsten reaches down to help him, using his demigod powers to instantly dry his best friend once he’s out of the water.

 

“Truth or dare?” Geoff asks as a courtesy.

 

Awsten shrugs. “Your pick.”

 

Geoff thinks about it for a second. “Alright. Truth: What kind of relationship are you thinking about with Ciara?”

 

The question catches Awsten off guard. “I-- haven’t really thought about it” is his immediate answer, but once he says it he knows he needs a better response. “I mean, I think she’s really pretty, and she’s really nice to me, but I haven’t thought about like, if we were to date, would we last past summer, that kind of thing. She’s one of those where I’m cool with admiring from a distance, I think, but I would like to hold her hand and stuff if given the opportunity. Y’know? I just wanna be around her, I guess.”

 

His response sounds all to relatable so Geoff just nods and pulls on his t-shirt.

 

“Why do you ask?”

 

Awsten doesn’t say ‘Truth’ before posing the question, so Geoff doesn’t feel bad for answering, “Just curious.”


	3. Open Hand and Heart

Geoff sits on the golden porch of Cabin 7 as dawn breaks over the horizon, guitar in his lap. He’s switching back and forth from a C# to an E, trying to fit together a tune that he’s had stuck in his head for a few days. He can hear his siblings inside the cabin waking, called by the rising sun. He moves his fingers from an E to an A, but adjusts the chord into an Asus2, liking the tone better.

 

As easily as guitar comes to him, Geoff has never much enjoyed singing. Sure, he joins the camp sing-alongs and it’s always fun for Apollo to burst into random musical numbers during meals, but whenever he writes his own songs, he never really plans on every singing them aloud to people.

 

He moves back into the C#, figures out a strumming rhythm, and writes it down on the empty notebook page splayed in front of his knees; from there, he shifts into the E, then the Asus2, repeating the process until he has a solid verse-- chorus? intro?-- of music written out.

 

Then he flips the page back to stare at the scrawled poetry-slash-lyrics that he’ll hopefully never say-- or sing-- aloud to anyone.

 

Fingers poised in the first chord, he mumbles to himself, “Hey, tell me what you--” he cuts himself off, shaking his head. Starting over, he plays the C# with the “hey” before shifting into E right away. “Tell me what you…” --Asus2-- “...want me to say...” and back to the C#. “You know I’m… stupid for… you…” he finishes, with short, awkward pauses marking the places where he switches his focus towards changing chords. He flips back to the page of his chords and marks out the new rhythm, then starts again from the top with a bit more confidence.

 

“Hey, tell me what you want me to say,” he sings quietly. “You know I’m stupid for you… hey, can you come and come out and play… you know I’m stupid for you…”

 

He’s jolted from his focus when someone asks, “Working on something new?”

 

Geoff looks up to where a handful of his half-siblings are crowding out the cabin door, eyes on him. Fighting a blush, Geoff shrugs and shuts his notebook, rising to his feet. “It’s nothing. Let’s go get breakfast.”

 

On their way towards the mess hall, Geoff stops by Cabin 3 and bangs his fist on the barnacle-clad blue door. “Rise and shine, water boy!” he laughs, hearing Awsten groan inside.

 

“You’re the worst,” Awsten tells him when he walks past the Apollo table to go sit by himself for breakfast.

 

“Hey, hold up,” Geoff grins, leaning back so that he can grab Awsten’s wrist. “I’ve got a dare for you.”

 

Awsten grins. “Lay it on me.”

 

“I dare you to eat at someone else’s table today,” Geoff smirks. “Not Apollo or Hermes. Preferably Hera’s, maybe Zeus’s.”

 

The sky rumbles threateningly at those conditions, making Awsten pale and Geoff pause.

 

“Okay, maybe you don’t have to sit at Hera’s, we don’t wanna push it. But otherwise the conditions still stand.”

 

“For all three meals, or just breakfast?”

 

“Depends on how chicken you are,” Geoff answers, mischief glittering in his eyes.

 

Awsten squares his shoulders. “Challenge accepted, then.” He scans around the mess hall for a moment before strolling over to the Dionysos table. There are only two of them, and they both just stare at him questioningly when Awsten takes a seat and greets, “How’s it goin’, guys?”

 

Pushing the dare, Awsten decides to spend the whole morning with Dionysos’s sons. They take him out to the grapevines, show him how to check the ripeness of both purple and green (white?) grapes, and then he helps them out with the strawberry fields. After that, the trio head over to the forges. Apparently, the Cabin 12 duo get a kick out of bugging the Hephaestus kids while they’re working. It’s all fun and games until one of Hephaestus’s daughters points a red-hot, freshly-hammered broadsword at Awsten’s chest, prompting him to decide to wave goodbye to Cabins 12 and 9.

 

Awsten runs into Geoff and his siblings on his way to the Pegasi stables as they’re leaving the armory, and when Geoff spots him, he gives Awsten one of those sun-bright smiles and tells his cabin to go take a free hour to themselves while he joins Awsten at the stables.

 

Geoff is actually pretty elated that Awsten hasn’t decided to hang around Cabin 12 all day, because life really is pretty lonely without his best friend around. Just the sight of blue hair makes his stomach jump, which is really inconvenient when he’s trying to pretend like everything is okay, perfectly fine, nothing’s up. As they head towards the stables-- another one of Awsten’s favorite places, as he can talk to the pegasi, because horses are one of Poseidon’s creations-- Geoff thinks maybe he’s a bit too far into Awsten’s personal space, but Awsten leans into him, their arms practically pressed together as they walk.

 

 _This boy is going to be the death of me,_ Geoff thinks as Awsten suddenly hooks their arms together, but asks aloud, “How’re the Dionysos kids?”

 

“They’re pretty chill, actually,” Awsten muses. “They showed me the strawberry fields and some neat plant-growing tricks, and then we went and bugged the Hephaestus kids for a while, until one of them tried stabbing me, so I nope’d outta there.” He laughs and glances over at Geoff, surprised to find the older boy’s eyes already on him. “What about you? How’s your day going?”

 

“I’m bored already,” Geoff answers sarcastically. “Honestly, I’m just waiting for new kids. They always make things more interesting. Granted, twelve-year-olds are a lot more annoying to me now than they were when I was thirteen--”

 

“Hey, I was eleven, not twelve!”

 

“Oh, right, so you were even more annoying than usual,” Geoff teases.

 

Awsten elbows him in the ribs. “Whatever, you loved me, and you’re still here with me, so _obviously_ \--”

 

“ _Obviously_ I put up with a lot,” Geoff interrupts, getting another elbow to the ribs. “Ouch! If you keep doing that--”

 

“Is that a _threat_  that you’re about to make?”

 

They’re almost to the stables, but Geoff stops, forcing Awsten to stop with him, and narrows his eyes at the blue-haired teenager. Awsten swallows nervously but can’t stop the grin on his face, waiting to see what exactly the threat was going to be.

 

With an iron grip, Geoff suddenly grabs Awsten around the waist and throws Awsten over his shoulder, promptly turning away from the stables and back up the path towards the armory.

 

“Hey!” Awsten laughs, hitting Geoff’s back. “Put me down!”

 

“Maybe if you stop hitting me,” Geoff laughs, with no intention of setting Awsten down until they’d reached their newest destination.

 

“Where are we going?”

 

“Somewhere,” Geoff answers evasively, turning down the path towards the canoe lake. They pass by the Hermes cabin on the way, who had obviously just gotten out of the water. They all smile and wave at Awsten and Geoff, and Otto stops to pinch Awsten’s cheeks and boop his nose. “Are you having fun?” he asks innocently.

 

“I hate you both,” Awsten answers. “You’re the worst friends ever. If you really loved me, you’d save me.”

 

Otto just laughs and runs to catch up with his cabin.

 

“You’re going to throw me into the lake,” Awsten says to Geoff. “But it won’t do anything, because I’ll just stay dry and you’ll end up in the water, too. And I won’t help you.”

 

“Hmm, is _that_ what you think is going to happen?”

 

“It’s what I know is going to happen,” Awsten argues, suddenly realizing that they’d made it to the docks.

 

“Well now I have to reconsider what I’m going to do!” Geoff pauses and pretends to muse on what to do with the boy thrown over his shoulder. “Eh, actually, no I don’t!” he decides cheerily, swinging Awsten off his shoulder and throwing both of them into the water, his arms still tight around Awsten’s waist.

 

Despite being underwater, Awsten keeps them both dry as they sink down to the bottom, coming to a rest in the muck. Geoff doesn’t let go, knowing fully well that as soon as he does, he’ll be soaked and Awsten will leave him to suffer. A water nymph approaches them curiously, tilting her head at them; Geoff smiles and Awsten waves, which makes the nymph very clearly pleased, a smile on her face as she carries on to somewhere else.

 

 _Are you holding your breath?_ Awsten asks through the water, grinning.

 

 _I don’t need to_ , Geoff answers, tightening his arms around Awsten.

 

 _Maybe you should_ , Awsten warns, barely waiting a moment before beginning to thrash and throw Geoff off.

 

Geoff squeezes his eyes shut against the water, already feeling them beginning to burn, and suddenly he can feel the pressure of the lake on top of him. He feels water whooshing past him as Awsten kicks back up to the dock; he makes a move to follow, but is hit with a splitting headache, a sign of an incoming vision. The abrupt pain locks his muscles, freezing him in place.

 

_Flocks of doves, in the trees and the sky, silhouetted by the summer sun. Hyacinth flowers growing in the forest. Ciara, staring at him with troubled eyes from across the mess hall; back to the forest, with Awsten, unable to look at him, staring at the ground, face turned away. The doves fly in front of Geoff’s face, and then they aren’t in the forest anymore and Awsten is standing in front of him, looking right into his eyes as he says, “I dare you--” A sharp burst of light breaks the vision, almost blindingly bright--_

 

Geoff opens his eyes and immediately regrets it, gasping and taking in a lungful of lake water. Back in control of his limbs, he rushes to the surface, clinging to the dock and coughing up water as soon as he’s able to take in deep, ragged breaths of blessed atmospheric oxygen.

 

“Shit, are you okay?” Awsten asks immediately, pulling Geoff farther from the edge of the dock and instantly drying him. “I didn’t realize--”

 

“‘m alright--” Geoff mumbles, coughing one last time. “Just choked a bit, no biggie.”

 

Awsten raises an eyebrow but Geoff ignores him, choosing not to say anything about the vision that struck him.

 

“Let’s go get lunch,” Geoff suggests instead, shakily pushing himself to his feet. “I’m starving.”

 

“Okay,” Awsten agrees, still giving Geoff a weird look but rolling with it. “I’m thinking about sitting at Demeter’s table. I heard the food just tastes better with them.”

 

Geoff hums as they walk up the path, absently thinking about his current song-in-progress. Awsten smiles and tilts his head up toward the sun, briefly closing his eyes against the warmth.

 

“Is that one of your own?” Awsten asks in reference to Geoff’s humming.

 

The question makes him stop, completely blanking for half a second before answering, “Kind of. It’s nothing, though.”

 

“Truth or dare?” Awsten asks.

 

“Dare.”

 

“I want an entire Ke$ha concert performed at dinner, courtesy of Cabin 11.”

 

Geoff laughs and gives Awsten a shove. “You’re such a loser.”

 

Awsten just smiles at him before skipping over to Demeter’s table and greeting the Cabin 4 kids.

 

After lunch, Awsten spends the afternoon at the pegasi stables with Ciara and the rest of the Aphrodite cabin, while Geoff rallies together his siblings to create the most kick-ass Ke$ha cover show in history. Of course they’ll kick off the set-list with ‘Tik Tok,’ and Geoff knows for a fact that Awsten is a sucker for ‘Supernatural.’ Having a project to focus on, surrounded by a group of teenagers with magical musical instruments, takes Geoff’s mind off the fact that at the moment Awsten is probably holding hands with someone else, or at the very least flirting with her, and her pretty Aphrodisian face, riding pegasi together…

 

At dinner that night, Awsten confidently sits at Zeus’s table for about two milliseconds before the sky rumbles a terrifying warning. He switches to Artemis’s table immediately after, which is always empty due to the whole ‘virgin goddess’ thing and the fact that the Huntresses of Artemis rarely ever visit Camp Half-Blood. Once everyone has made their offerings to their parents and settled back down at their table, the entirety of Cabin 11 rises and, seemingly out of nowhere, begins performing a series of Ke$ha covers. Awsten doesn’t stop grinning the entire time, extremely pleased with the dare and with how enthusiastic all of Geoff’s half-siblings are about it.

 

When Geoff pulls out his guitar and starts an acoustic rendition of ‘Supernatural,’ Awsten thinks he might almost swoon a little bit, looking across the mess hall at the Aphrodite table but unable to catch Ciara’s eye. It’s okay, though: he’ll just watch Geoff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am weak for kesha rose


	4. From My Telescope (Intermission)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Just let them do their own thing!” Apollo pushes, exasperated.

“You can’t just  _ interfere like that!” _ Apollo sputters, throwing his arms in the air.

 

“It was subtle!” Aphrodite argues, Ares standing slightly behind her and nodding a little threateningly.

 

But Apollo isn’t scared of either of them. “Oh, right, totally,  _ doves _ , so subtle,  _ none _ of these demigods know that  _ doves _ are totally a sign from  _ Aphrodite-- _ !”

 

Aphrodite crosses her arms. “Apollo, they have been dancing around each other for six years, and last year they were  _ so close--” _

 

“Just let them do their own thing!” Apollo pushes, exasperated. They’re just going in circles at this point. “I don’t need my son’s love life coming with a set of Terms and Conditions, that he won’t bother to read, that end up landing him in some kind of eternal debt--”

 

“Stop being dramatic!” Aphrodite huffs. “Who do you think I am?” Then she gently places her hands on Apollo’s shoulders. “I am doing this out of the  _ goodness of my heart, _ because for some reason, your spawn has one of the purest hearts that I have seen in  _ centuries, _ and he deserves it.”

 

Apollo relaxes a bit under her touch and her words. “I guess…”

 

“ _ You, _ on the other hand,” Aphrodite immediately grins, wicked and cunning, full of sharp edges. “I might store away a favor from you for this.”

 

“I didn’t ask for this!”

 

“Please, I’m helping out your favorite kid. You’re gonna owe me.”

 

“He’s not--!”

 

Aphrodite gently pats Apollo’s cheek. “There, there. It’ll be okay. Just let me do my thing-- a little nudging the right way.” In a puff of pink glitter, she and Ares disappear to one of their haunts.

 

Apollo scowls at the space where she stood. Aphrodite may be the goddess of love, but Apollo thinks that the half-formed Serenading Plan was going perfectly well on its own. Then again, Geoff  _ is _ turning twenty this year, so maybe a little nudge won’t hurt. Plus, apparently one of Aphrodite’s own kids is going to have a hand in the scheme, which will either make things go fantastically or completely ruin everything.

 

He turns his gaze to Camp Half-Blood, watching from Olympus as his whole cabin of children bumbles around in hasty choreography, laughing the whole time, some with instruments and others just singing and dancing. Amongst them is a head of blue hair, a smiling boy that isn’t Apollo’s, acting for all the world that he is exactly where he belongs, right in the midst of the golden children, pretending like Geoff’s nervous touches are purely platonic. Apollo sighs a little, because in a way, Awsten  _ is _ exactly where he needs to be. Loathe as he is to admit it, Aphrodite is probably right. They need a little nudge.

 

Nevermind Geoff’s love life-- the boy is turning twenty this year, and Apollo feels like he should probably make an appearance this time. It’s an accomplishment. The only problem is that Apollo prefers to take the appearance of a late teen, but he can’t casually show up to Camp Half-Blood looking younger than his eldest son. That would be  _ weird. _

  
Oh well. He has until July to come to terms with it. (For an immortal being, one month is barely a blink. Still, sometimes thinking in such human terms makes him feel a bit better about things.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> um...hello...i am. Alive. still in the bandom, lol  
> anyway sorry that y'all have waited so long only for this ~550 word intermission chapter. my original plan was to not publish anything until the next chapter was finished, but i think you guys deserve something after like a month of waiting (yikes). after this, we'll be back to 2k chapters and hopefully this story will be ~7 chapters long? including this intermission. also i just started the Heroes of Olympus series so y'know my mythology love has been reignited so hopefully that means writing more for this story.  
> (also, my love for waterparks has recently been overshadowed by a Big Interest in voltron, so, y'know. that's where i've been. whoops.)


	5. In Your Headspace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS FIC IS STILL ALIVE  
> and uhhh here's a quick warning that geoff makes a quick daddy joke here?
> 
> anyway this is the longest chapter thus far by about ~1000 words, so I hope it's worth the wait lmao

“Geoff?”

 

“Yes?”

 

Otto cocks his head to the side, his whole body following the movement. “Why are you hanging from a tree with your knees?”

 

Swinging his arms a little, Geoff laughs, “It was Awsten’s turn to ask Truth or Dare. I think I have about ten more minutes left.”

 

“You know,” Otto says, “It wouldn’t kill you to pick Truth every once in awhile.”

 

Geoff scoffs at that. “I don’t trust Awsten with that. He’d ask me something weird and I’m weird enough that it would be a weird answer--”

 

“You’re scared of him asking if you like him.”

 

“What?! Don’t be ridiculous, dude.” The blood flow from dangling upside down has already made Geoff’s face bright red, so Otto can’t tell whether he’s blushing or not. “Besides, why would he even ask me something like that? Where would the idea even come from? Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous, Mr. Wood!”

 

Otto rolls his eyes at the panicked pitch of Geoff’s voice, an obvious indicator of lying. “Okay, yeah, sure, there’s absolutely  _ no _ reason whatsoever to believe that you and Awsten are pining for each other,” he mutters sarcastically.

 

_ “Pining?!” _

 

Ignoring Geoff, Otto steps closer to the Apollan and starts patting at the pockets of Geoff’s jeans. “Have any of my siblings taken advantage of you yet and stolen your wallet?”

 

“Um, no? It’s over by the tree trunk, next to my jacket.”

 

“Geoff. There is no jacket next to the tree trunk.”

 

Otto looks back over to Geoff just in time to see him crash to the ground, woozily trying to stand back up while all the blood rushes away from his face.

 

Geoff stares at the spot next to the tree where his jacket and wallet had been, then shoots Otto an accusatory glare. “Your family sucks, man.”

 

“Hey, I’m not in charge of them!”

 

“You-- you’re they’re head counselor!”

 

Otto gives Geoff a pointed look. “And yet you never claim authority over  _ your _ siblings.”

 

“That’s--” Geoff starts to argue, but is interrupted by a short shout.

 

“Hey!” Awsten grins, coming down from the path. “You’ve still got another--” he checks his wrist for a watch that isn’t there-- “eight minutes!”

 

“The Hermes kids stole my jacket,” Geoff pouts, visibly slouching in defeat.

 

“Maybe they’ll give it back for your birthday,” Otto jokes. Geoff just scowls, but he gets a cackle out of Awsten.

 

Grinning, Awsten puts his hands on his hips and turns to Geoff. “So,” he smirks, leaning forward. “What’s my prize for winning? Or, probably more accurately, what’s your punishment for losing?”

 

Geoff bites his tongue but can’t stop a short burst of laughter from escaping, snorting out, “Spank me, Daddy!”

 

“Nooo, no, no! Bad joke! Bad!” Otto wails in disgust, hands flying over his ears while Awsten and Geoff fall over with mirth, holding their sides as they laugh. Otto makes another noise of disgust, shaking his head and jabbing his finger in their direction. “I’m disappointed in both of you. I’m keeping Geoff’s wallet now,  _ and _ the picture of us that he keeps in it!”

 

“Whoa, dude, no, please!” Geoff tries to beg, still shaking with giggles. “I’m-- I’m sorry--!”

 

“What are we gonna do for your birthday, anyway?” Awsten asks, wiping tears from his eyes. “That’s just in a couple weeks.”

 

“Well, I apparently am gonna need a new hoodie,” Geoff sighs dramatically, sprawling out in the grass.

 

“You definitely need a new pair of jeans,” Otto smirks, pointing at the large holes in Geoff’s skinnies. “Are those your only pair of pants?”

 

“Fight me, Otto.”

 

“Square up.”

 

Awsten smiles at the exchange between his best friends, lost in his own head. Two and a half weeks into June already, and he hasn’t really made any progress with Ciara on the romantic front. She invites him to go canoeing with Aphrodite every Wednesday, and he always agrees, but it just feels too platonic. He doesn’t know how to go about changing it, but the more he thinks about that, the less he’s sure if that’s what he wants. Ciara makes him laugh the same way Otto does, and her smile is bright like Geoff’s-- his real smile, the sunshine grin, not that tight, toothless smile that he flashes most of the time. But she never gives Awsten the chance to be alone with her, like her own subtle way of rejecting him. Or maybe he’s reading into it too much?

 

“Hey, Awsten, truth or dare?” Geoff asks, breaking Awsten’s reverie.

 

Awsten purses his lips, thinking for a moment. Then a smile breaks his serious expression. “Wait, no, I figured out what the rule for breaking a dare is.”

 

Geoff raises his eyebrows, silently waiting for Awsten to continue. His stomach churns in anticipation, but there’s an underlying excitement to the feeling, because he trusts Awsten to pick something interesting, if not good.

 

“Double turn. And I get to pick whether it’s truth or dare,” Awsten says with triumph, smile morphing into a wicked grin. “Does that sound fair to you?”

 

“Sounds fair to  _ me,” _ Otto says quickly, turning his own grin on Geoff.

 

“You’re not even playing!” Geoff protests weakly, knowing he’s defeated. “Okay, fine. Lay it on me.”

 

Awsten pulls another thinking-face, humming, “Hmm, truth or dare, truth or dare… Let’s go with a truth, shall we?”

 

Geoff scowls but doesn’t say anything, silently waiting for whatever it was Awsten was ready to ask.

 

“If you… could…” Awsten drawls, buying himself time to figure out what to ask. “Umm. If you could… bang anyone at camp, who would it be?” he blurts out, immediately biting his lip after.  _ Stupid question. Stupid, stupid question. Most of these kids are younger than me, even! _

 

Geoff blinks rapidly, processing. “Dude. There’s like, only six or seven demigods here that are older than seventeen.”

 

“Yeah, but, like, of those six or seven,” Awsten grins, trying to regain his composure. He adds with a wink, “Seventeen-year-olds included. We’re all still teenagers!”

 

That makes Geoff panic a little. There’s no way he’s actually going to be honest about it; this isn’t exactly how he imagined telling Awsten about his feelings. He catalogs his options: Otto, Awsten, Ciara, Jawn, um-- that girl from Hephaestus, what was her name? and-- um--

 

“Jawn? I guess?” he answers hesitantly. With more confidence, he nods. “Yeah, probably Jawn.”

 

Awsten looks a little taken aback at that, like he’d been expecting a different answer. “Oh. Jawn, huh?”

 

Jawn Rocha is the flame-headed cabin counselor of Cabin 14-- the cabin of Iris, the goddess of the rainbow. He’s just a couple months younger than Geoff, and they’d arrived at Camp Half Blood in the same summer. Before Awsten, Jawn had been Geoff’s best friend; he still was one of Geoff’s favorite people, but they just don’t hang out as much as they used to. He and Geoff had definitely skirted on ‘flirty’ when they were around sixteen, when Jawn helped pierce Geoff’s nose and Awsten was in his awkward thirteen- and fourteen-year-old years, but it had only ever been something for fun. Geoff remembers staying up past curfew with Jawn, spending hours talking about weird feelings and figuring out their identities together. (But not, like, together-together.) (Okay, so, they kissed a few times, but. It was completely platonic.)

 

“You aren’t allowed to lie,” Otto teases, his eyes more serious than his tone.

 

Geoff stares back, unwavering. “I’d totally bang Jawn.”

 

“Weren’t you guys, like, a thing at one point or something?” Awsten asks, a little bit of an edge in his voice. He remembers, vaguely, back when Jawn and Geoff were attached at the hip. It was back when he’d had that kid-crush on Geoff; he’d always had a bit of a jealousy issue with Jawn ever since.

 

Geoff laughs at the question. “Nah, dude. I mean, we were sixteen and definitely each having our own sexuality crisis, but. We weren’t… We were never, y’know. Together. We were just friends.”

 

Awsten hums at that, picking at the bottom seam of his orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt.

 

Otto watches the exchange with raised eyebrows, in disbelief at the way neither of them are looking at each other: Geoff not reading Awsten’s jealousy, Awsten unable to see Geoff’s true feelings; Geoff’s insistence that there was nothing between himself and Jawn, Awsten’s off-put pout and over-analysing.

 

How had they been dancing around each other for so long?

 

When the silence stretches out from awkward to uncomfortable, Otto finally says, “See, Geoff? That wasn’t so bad. Maybe you should pick Truth more often.”

 

“Shut up,” Geoff laughs, reaching over to give Otto a playful shove. “I picked ‘truth’ plenty of times last summer!”

 

(Back when he’d had more courage, back when Awsten reciprocated-- he  _ had _ to have reciprocated, right? The tension had gone two ways. Back when Geoff would’ve been honest if Awsten had asked him to be.)

 

(The story of Daedalus was supposed to teach kids about hubris, but lately Geoff feels like Icarus in the way that he got so close, but now every interaction makes him feel like he’s crashing into waves that aren’t controlled by Poseidon. The child of the Sun, in love with a child of the Sea.)

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Aws, truth or dare?”

 

“Dare.”

 

“I dare you to eat a whole mouthful of coffee grounds.”

 

Awsten makes a face. “Dude, that’s disgusting,” he says, wrinkling his nose. An instant later, the expression is replaced with a grin. “Let’s do it.”

 

At Camp Half-Blood, the plates and cups magically provide whatever you want to eat or drink, with a few restrictions. (No one wants drunk fourteen-year-olds running around, especially somewhere with easily accessible swords and enchanted weapons.) Geoff, Awsten, and Otto are eating lunch at the Poseidon table together today, and Geoff and Otto watch with eager eyes as Awsten summons a pile of ground coffee beans onto his plate.

 

“This is gonna be nasty,” he laughs, scooping the grinds up with his hands. With a cheerful “Bon appetite!” he shoves all of them into his mouth in one go, immediately squeezing his eyes shut against the bitter taste, resisting the urge to gag. Geoff is sitting next to him, their sides flush together as the older boy waits for Awsten to fail the dare. Awsten resolutely starts chewing-- the worst part of it is the grainy texture of the whole thing. He reaches for his cup, just hoping to help wash them down, but Geoff pushes it out of his immediate reach. Awsten scowls at him and shoots Otto a look, but Otto seems to be enjoying it just as much as Geoff is.

 

Fighting his gag reflex, Awsten swallows the grounds completely and immediately spits “Fuck you!” while reaching for water.

 

Geoff laughs, and Awsten can feel it against his side where Geoff is still pressed against him. When Awsten turns to glare up at him, he’s caught off-guard by how close Geoff actually is.

 

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Geoff teases, eyes glittering with laughter.

 

He’s, at most, four inches away from Awsten’s face.

 

“Um,” Awsten says, finding himself unable to look away. It feels like they haven’t been this physically close in a long time, and it sends his heart hammering in overdrive. “It-- it was grainy. And bitter. But not the worst thing, no.”

 

“Good,” Geoff smiles, softer this time. He doesn’t move away yet, selfishly basking in being so close to Awsten. In his defense, Awsten isn’t moving away either.

 

Otto rolls his eyes at them.  _ Unbelievable. _

 

Geoff spends the afternoon with his cabin, training in the Arena and practicing against summoned monsters. Despite being the most seasoned of his siblings, Geoff keeps missing blocks and parries as they swordfight, mind wandering, distracted by his thoughts. Every time he has a new project to work on, he can’t focus on anything else, it seems. He’s humming as he half-heartedly swipes at a sibling, thinking of chords as his partner pushes him back; when she completely disarms him in a quick and simple move, he doesn’t really notice, forcing himself to remember the lyrics that his brain gives him when he has no way to write them down.

 

“Does anyone have a pen?” he asks, knowing that  _ someone _ has to have one-- they’re all artistically inclined enough that the odds are in his favor. Someone hands him one, and he starts scribbling on his arm, trying to catch the words before he forgets them, ignoring the training going on around him:  _ you’re playing ring round my head / I wear you like a halo… symphony, sour note. _

 

Geoff wants to run and get his guitar, but he has to be a Good Cabin-Counselor-Slash-Older-Brother™, so he lets the younger kids train for a bit longer before dismissing them to do whatever they want until dinner. Most head towards the crafts tent, while a few follow him back to the golden Apollo cabin. Geoff immediately crawls into his bunk, tugging the yellow curtains closed, and grabs his notebook from under his pillow.

 

Meanwhile, Awsten spends the afternoon with the pegasi. He likes to just sit with them, talking to them and helping them groom their wings. Normally, things having to do with the sky aren’t the best interest for a child of the sea, but Poseidon created horses, so Awsten and the pegasi get along just fine.

 

Ciara finds him there in the late afternoon, about an hour before dinner. She watches him silently for a minute or so, enjoying how happy he looks surrounded by magical beasts. But she has a mission to complete, one that she’s pretty sure came directly from her mother, Aphrodite.

 

At lunch, she’d seen doves pecking at crumbs of coffee grounds, watched the easy closeness Awsten and Geoff had shared. She’s excited-- being the head of Aphrodite, she likes to pride herself on her knowledge of relationships, and has, admittedly, played matchmaker for more than one happy teen romance.

 

“Hey,” she smiles, leaning against a pillar of the pegasi stables.

 

Awsten startles, not having noticed her entrance. “Hi.”

 

“So,” she starts, smile stretching into a grin. “You and Geoff were getting pretty cozy at lunch, right?”

 

“Wh--” Awsten turns bright red. “N-no, we’re not-- we’re not… you know. It’s not like that.”

 

She calculates his expression, the pitch of his voice. This is just like a quest, right? Mission to complete, despite some obstacles in the way. “Does he not swing that way?” she asks, frowning a little. “Not that it’s any of my business, I guess, but I thought he liked you back?”

 

“Back--?!”

 

“You… you have feelings for him, Awsten,” she says slowly, feigning confusion. If she acts like she already knows it’s a fact, then he’s more likely to just be honest with her about it.

 

He fidgets with the hem of his T-shirt. “I… no. No, it’s-- it’s not Geoff. You know that already.”

 

Ciara’s frown deepens. She’d spent the past two weeks trying to enforce a platonic relationship with him, and she thought he’d gotten that. Thought she’d just been a passing crush overlaying his deeper feelings. This was going to be more difficult than she thought. “So  _ he _ likes  _ you, _ but  _ you _ don’t like  _ him.” _

 

“No!” Awsten answers quickly. “He-- we-- that’s not… I told you, it’s not like that.” He says it as resolutely as he can, angry at how fast his heart is beating from this conversation. He-- he likes Ciara, he used to like Geoff, but it was a kid-crush. He’s comfortable with both his bisexuality and his platonic relationships. “It’s… not like that.”

 

Ciara smiles a little sadly at him, although he’s not sure why. “Okay, Awsten,” she says, almost sighing. “I guess I was reading the situation wrong.”

 

Awsten finally looks up at her, his shoulders slumping when she meets his gaze. “Okay,” he sighs. “When I was, like, thirteen or twelve or something, I had this really big crush on him, because he was older and nice to me. Not a lot of sixteen-year-olds hang out with thirteen-year-olds, you know? And he and Jawn were really close back then, too, but he still always included me. And I liked him for it. But then we were just friends, and it was just a kid-crush, you know? But then last summer, we started this Truth or Dare game, and things were… tense, I guess.” He knows he’s rambling, but he can’t seem to be able to stop now. “But we never talked about it, or said anything about it, or did anything about it. I go home at the end of the summer, he stays here. I didn’t… I didn’t know how to deal with it, or how to end the summer, because he’s my best friend and I-- I love him more than anything, and I didn’t want to lose that.”

 

“And now?” Ciara prompts gently.

 

“I… I don’t know.” Awsten shakes his head, sighing again. “Because, you know-- I, um. I really like  _ you, _ but Geoff and I are still playing Truth or Dare, and he still-- everything is so--” He makes a frustrated noise in the back of his throat, running a hand through his hair. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

 

“Feelings are hard,” she tells him, empathetic to her core.

 

Awsten nods. “Feelings are hard.”

 

“I’m… I’m glad you told me this, Awsten,” she says, offering him a smile. “You’re more than welcome to talk to me about this stuff, okay? I really care about you. Just… not the way that you might want me to. Do you understand?”

 

It’s the most gentle rejection he could’ve ever hoped for.

 

“Thanks, Ciara,” he says sincerely, very glad that he has her as a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we've got like, a part + an epilogue left? two parts left? something like that.  
> thanks for your patience, kudos, and comments!!!


	6. Lose My Mood

“Hey, we should go on a picnic for lunch today,” Geoff suggests as he passes the Poseidon table at breakfast. “We haven’t done that yet this summer.”

 

Awsten grins. “That sounds awesome. I’m down.”

 

Nerves and excitement bubble in Geoff’s stomach for the rest of the morning. He can’t stop tapping and humming under his breath as the Apollo cabin goes through their usual morning activities. He doesn’t want to mess this up.

 

He finished the song a few nights ago. It’s been awhile since he’s sung in front of other people, but he knows Awsten won’t care about his voice. The lyrics are the part that makes him nervous.

 

Anxiety Level 1: What if Awsten rejects him? Or doesn’t even realize it’s for him?

 

Anxiety Level 2: Give Geoff the Minotaur any day; fighting monsters is easier and way less deadly than telling someone about your feelings. _That_ is true terror.

 

Anxiety Level 3: Awsten and Ciara have been hanging out even more lately; what if something happened between them? Wouldn’t Awsten have told him?

 

Anxiety Level 3 loops back to Anxiety Level 1. Geoff tells himself to just not think about it. (That doesn’t work. How can he possibly not think about it? He’s got… shit, like, an hour until lunch? Is it too late to back out? He could just not bring his guitar along. He could just sit and picnic with Awsten and pretend that everything is fine, nothing is weird.)

 

Geoff pretends he’s packing away his anxieties as he packs food into a basket for lunch.

 

“Ready to go?” Awsten chirps from over his shoulder, picnic blanket thrown over his shoulder.

 

“Yeah,” Geoff nods, closing the picnic basket. “I-- I just need to grab my guitar real quick.”

 

Awsten looks at him with surprise. It’s been awhile since he’s heard Geoff sing solo. Even in group activities, he usually just plays guitar accompaniment for someone else’s vocals.

 

Once Geoff has his guitar slung over his shoulder, the duo begins their trek into the woods. There are clear trails and paths from years and years of hiking and Capture the Flag. The dryads giggle as they pass, occasionally shimmering into a human-like shape to trill their fingers in a shy wave. Geoff smiles back at them close-mouthed, clinging to the straps of his guitar case until his knuckles turn white.

 

Awsten spots a wide clearing speckled with flowers and tugs Geoff to it. “This is perfect!”

 

It really is. About fifteen feet in diameter, it’s almost a perfect circle with cropped grass and a smattering of sunlight coming through the trees. The flowers dotting the grass are a variety of colors, tiny pink and yellow petals. Closer to the trees, Geoff spots some taller flowers-- bundles of purples and blues that make his heart stutter. He hesitates when he recognizes them, wondering if it’s some kind of cruel joke or sign.

 

“What’s wrong?” Awsten asks, turning his head. The way the sunlight streams through the trees gives him a fawn-like appearance, dappled and wide-eyed.

 

“Uh, nothing,” Geoff mumbles. When Awsten just raises an eyebrow in response, Geoff gestures to the tall flowers. “Those. They’re, uh. They’re hyacinth flowers.”

 

Awsten looks to the flowers. “Hyacinth, like, the guy your dad was into way back when?”

 

“Yeah. A jealous wind spirit killed him, so my dad turned him into the flower to preserve his soul.”

 

“Do they make you nervous?”

 

Geoff snorts. _They certainly don’t help_ , he thinks. Out loud, he answers, “Nah, just weird. A lot of cultures actually use hyacinth flowers to symbolize rebirth or new life.”

 

Awsten makes a _huh_ noise in his throat, tossing the picnic blanket on the ground. “That’s actually really cool. I like the implication that Apollo gave Hyacinth new life. Now, help me unfold this blanket and let’s get this picnic started. I’m starving from that hike!”

 

Geoff laughs and sets down his guitar and the picnic basket to help Awsten smooth out the blanket.

 

Less than fifteen minutes later, they’re sprawled out together, a Tupperware container of grapes between them, discarded plates littered with breadcrumbs abandoned by their feet. Geoff closes his eyes against the gentle warmth of the sun as Awsten tells him a story, the blue-haired boy struggling to get words out between laughs. It’s something about someone he knows out in the mortal world, someone Geoff has never met and frankly doesn’t care about. But Awsten’s voice is soothing, and his laughter fills Geoff with light.

 

“Hey, hey, dude,” Awsten grins, patting Geoff’s cheeks. “Are you gonna fall asleep on me?”

 

“No,” Geoff mumbles, a lazy smile making its way onto his face. He catches Awsten’s hands and holds them still. “Just enjoying the weather. Keep talking.”

 

Awsten laughs, taking his hands back. “I think I’m ready for you to get out your guitar.”

 

Geoff’s stomach drops as he opens his eyes again. “Oh, yeah, sure,” he says, trying to be nonchalant. He sits up reluctantly, crawling across the blanket to where his guitar rests in the grass. “Any requests?”

 

Awsten always has requests, which is nice-- it lets Geoff postpone and prepare himself for the moment he knows is coming. But for now they laugh and sing together, pushing Geoff’s musical ability to transpose any song to acoustic guitar. They start with “Hey There Delilah” and meander over to some Kesha, a couple Green Day and Creeper songs. Geoff adores Awsten’s voice, the way he giggles sometimes after lines or when Geoff messes up a chord.

 

Everything with Awsten is just so easy. Geoff doesn’t want to fuck this up.

 

“What next?” Awsten muses in the quiet pause after the last song.

 

Geoff hesitates a moment, glancing at the hyacinth around them and feeling the summer sun on his face. He can do this. Right? Yeah. It’ll… it’ll be fine. So he steels himself and says, “Do you… wanna hear the song I’ve been working on?”

 

Awsten sits up immediately, spine ramrod straight. “Dude. _Yes.”_

 

“Okay,” Geoff nods, biting his lip. He clears his throat, posing his fingers on the first chord. “Hey, tell me what you want me to say,” he croons softly, tapping the beat on the body of his guitar. “You know I’m stupid for you.”

 

Awsten gives Geoff his full attention, leaning forward and propping his elbows on his knees.

 

“Hey, can you come-a come out and play… you know I’m stupid for you.”

 

Geoff finishes the intro with a pause, heart hammering. This is where he can’t turn back, can’t pretend like it’s for someone else. This is the point of no return, and it makes him hesitate.

 

Then he starts strumming.

 

“I’m color coding my moods:

I’m yellow, you’re natural blue.

Let’s get together and be green like my insides.”

 

Awsten blinks. Holy _shit._ Holy shit this is happening.

 

Geoff’s voice wavers a bit as he starts the next line:

 

“At least I’ll match _her_ eyes,

jealous and hypnotized.

Let’s match our faces and be equally in _love_.”

 

He barely pauses for a breath before going into the chorus, refusing to look up and see Awsten’s reaction. It’s the same lines as the intro and it rebuilds his confidence before he launches into the next verse.

 

“Let’s trash our whole afternoon--” Geoff can’t help but smile at that line, briefly glancing away from his own hands to see Awsten. “--reciting recycled news, until we meld and go back to your hotel room…”

 

Awsten stares at his own hands, overwhelmed. This was-- this was about _him,_ about him and _Geoff, together._ It made his heart race and brain quit working.

 

“I’ll be your new favorite tune.

I’ll be your black cloud by June,

but only when you miss the rain like I miss you.”

 

The lines rip something raw out of Geoff’s chest, leaving him hollow and feeling bare. He feels like choking on his own voice. He _needs_ to see Awsten for the next lines, forcing himself to look at the son of Poseidon as he sings, “Just double-dare me and I promise now that I’ll stay.”

 

Awsten’s head jerks up, gaze snapping from his hands to Geoff.

 

“It’s not like you’re married but I still got carried away…”

 

 _Almost there. Almost through. Chorus, bridge, bridge, chorus, bridge. I can do this,_ Geoff tells himself, throwing himself into the second-to-last chorus.

 

The bridge is the last part that Geoff pieced together for the whole song. If he hadn’t already laid out his heart, he’s doing it now, eyes glued to his fingers forming the chords. He doesn’t want to mess up. (What if he already messed everything up?)

 

“You’re playing ring ‘round my head.

I’ll wear you like a halo.

You’re a symphony, I’m just a sour note.

I’ll take what I can get.

The best is hard to grip when everybody wants you…”

 

Geoff sighs out, “And everybody wants you.”

 

The bridge repeats and Awsten’s head is spinning. How… how could this even be real? There’s nothing hidden in Geoff’s voice-- it’s all there, honest and open and it makes Awsten’s heart ache with adoration. How could someone really care about him so much? It sent him reeling.

 

“Hey, tell me that you want me to _stay,_ ” Geoff sings, a little proud of the alteration to the chorus’s first line. He finishes the rest of the chorus confidently, finally falling into the outro. He sings the bridge one last time, a little softer and slower, fading the chords out as he repeats, “And everybody wants you… and everybody wants you.”

 

Awsten doesn’t know what to say, mouth opening and waiting for words. Geoff swallows hard, heart hammering, and slouches down, like he’s trying to hide behind his guitar. Awsten inhales, like he’s about to say something, but no words come out.

 

Geoff doesn’t realize there are tears stinging in his eyes until he forcibly blinks them away. He didn’t… well, he kind of thought this might happen. But it hurts so much more than he could’ve ever prepared himself for.

 

Finally, Awsten forces out, “Geoff-- _Geoff.”_

 

“I’m sorry,” Geoff blurts, hating how shaky his voice is. “I’m-- I’m sorry.” He can feel Awsten looking at him, but can’t return his gaze. His chest hurts. “Sorry,” he repeats, defeated. “I should--”

 

“Let me think about it,” Awsten interrupts, hesitant. “I just--”

 

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Geoff mumbles. His hands shake as he puts his guitar back in its case. “Do you, um. Want to go back?”

 

“That would probably be a good idea,” Awsten agrees, gathering up their trash and dirty dishes.

 

They make the trek back quietly. Geoff stares straight ahead, shoulders sloped down. In another context, he might look relaxed, but there’s a storm in his eyes and his hands still haven’t stopped shaking. Awsten keeps stealing glances at the older boy, not sure how to cut through the unsettling tension. Ciara’s words ring through his mind:

 

 _“So he likes_ you _, but you don’t like_ him _.”_

 

 _Feelings are hard,_ he reminds himself, still pouring over the past twenty minutes in his mind. The way Geoff had caught his hand, held it in that lazy affectionate way, and the song. The damn song. Thinking about it made Awsten’s heart beat harder; no one had ever done anything like that for him before. No one had ever made him feel like this before. So why hadn’t he been able to respond? What made him push Geoff away?

 

The late afternoon sun makes Geoff glow golden as they exit the forest. Awsten stops and stares, tongue-tied.

 

Geoff glances at the son of Poseidon and sighs. “I’ll… I’ll see you at dinner, or something,” he mumbles, eyes drifting back down to the ground. Without waiting for a response, he heads back towards his cabin, leaving Awsten standing alone on the edge of the treeline.

 

“Yeah,” Awsten says to empty air. “See you.”

 

He takes the picnic basket back to the kitchen and unloads it, hand washing the plates and tossing their trash. He leaves out the leftovers for whichever wandering satyr finds it. (Those guys have bottomless pits for stomachs.)

 

He heads straight for the Aphrodite cabin, knocking hard. One of Ciara’s little siblings opens it, the thirteen-year-old who just came to camp for the first time this summer. Her eyes go wide when she sees it’s him.

 

“Is Ciara here?” he asks. “It’s kind of urgent.”

 

She nods sharply, and the door closes for a moment. Awsten bounces on the balls of his feet as waves of nervous energy crash over him.

 

“Awsten?” Ciara asks, opening the door. “Is-- is everything okay?”

 

“I fucked up,” Awsten blurts. “I fucked up and I don’t know how to fix it or what to do or what I should say or where to even _start--”_

 

“I think we should sit down,” Ciara decides, pulling Awsten into the cabin. “Do you care about my siblings listening?”

 

Awsten barely spares a glance for the other six Aphrodite kids as she sits him down on one of the bunks. “Doesn’t matter. I just need help.”

 

“Start from the beginning.”

 

Awsten takes a deep breath, then launches into it, telling her about how they’d gone into the woods for a picnic, it was something they did a lot each summer, and then how they were singing songs and-- and then Geoff sang something _original_ , and it was about _Awsten_ , and Geoff _liked_ him? But Awsten didn’t know what to say and now Geoff thinks it’s not mutual but Awsten is still _reeling_ from everything, he doesn’t even _know_ how he’s feeling, he hadn’t even admitted to anyone but _Ciara_ about his potential feelings--

 

“So now he won’t even look at me, and I don’t know what to do to fix it,” Awsten concludes, head in his hands. Someone pats his shoulder for comfort.

 

“Well,” Ciara says, hesitating. “Well, you did mess up. But it’s not unfixable.”

 

“Really?” Awsten asks, perking up a little. “What can I do?”

 

Ciara grins. “I’ve got a couple ideas, but really, it’s up to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAUGHHHHH wow sorry for such a long break between chapters! but i'm really happy that we finally reached this point, and i've been back in a waterparks swing so hopefully this fic will be FINISHED in the next two weeks before i leave for college! get HYPE.
> 
> (i'd apologize for the angst, but y'all know the fluff is coming anyway, so. you can wait. lol)


	7. Stupid for You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Don't make him think you're avoiding him."

“I’m not good enough at words for this,” Awsten mumbles, dejectedly plucking at the guitar strings. It was one borrowed from a young Apollo camper, a spikey-haired girl who had given Awsten a knowing look when he’d asked to borrow it. His own guitar was at home-- he’d gotten it for his fourteenth birthday, the December after Geoff had started teaching him how to play. Awsten used to practice on a daily basis but it had been a few months since the last time he’d picked up an instrument. Before that, even, he’d been pretty bad at making himself practice. He feels rusty and stiff and insecure.

 

“Awsten,” Ciara reminds him, “Geoff will love you for even _trying._ So don’t worry about being ‘good enough.’ He’ll be happy with anything, okay?”

 

Her words combined with the soft, comforting blue of Cabin 3 help ease a little bit of the tension in Awsten’s shoulders.

 

Otto rolls his eyes, running his hand through the fountain set in the cabin’s center. “Dude, it’s only been, like, an hour. Seriously, stop stressing. I’m pretty sure he spent like a month on that song for you, so don’t sweat the fact that you’re not done in forty-five minutes.”

 

“Just think about how he makes you feel,” Ciara suggests. “It doesn’t even have to sound poetic or anything for now. Like, write down all the stuff you told me the other day. Once you get it all out, you can refine it and turn it into lyrics.”

 

She ruffles his blue hair as she stands up. “Good luck, Aws, but I’ve got a cabin to go take care of.”

 

Awsten sighs and falls back on his bed.

 

“You don’t have to be a descendant of Apollo to write a good song,” Otto says quietly. “Something’ll come to you eventually.”

 

“But Geoff is upset _now.”_

 

The dinner bell starts tolling. Awsten groans loudly, not getting up.

 

“Don’t make him think you’re avoiding him,” Otto warns on his way out.

 

“I’m not avoiding him,” Awsten mumbles to his ceiling. With another huff, he forces himself out of bed and back into camp.

* * *

 

Geoff can’t seem to get rid of the hollow ache in his chest. He doesn’t know if he really wants to, to be honest. At least it’s some kind of feeling, even if it’s just, y’know, the result of his heart falling apart.

 

Awsten hadn’t said no, but he also hadn’t, like, leapt into Geoff’s arms and kissed him, either.

 

The vision-- the vision that he’d had, back when he’d almost drowned at the bottom of the lake: the hyacinth flowers, the forest the… the way that in the vision, Awsten hadn’t been able to look at him. _Fuck._ He should have-- he should have _known,_ he should have seen it coming, of _course._ But what about the doves? He remembers distinctly the way that a flock of doves had been involved in the prophecy. Was it a sign of Aphrodite that it was doomed? Is that the point? He’s just one of her heartbreak games, isn’t he?

 

Geoff can’t even find the energy to be angry over it. He just shuffles through the afternoon like a zombie. His siblings rush past him when the dinner bell tolls; it takes a minute for his auditory processing to catch up, leaving him standing and staring at the pavilion in mild confusion for a few seconds.

 

Before he has the chance to move, there’s a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Hey, man,” Jawn greets, concern written all over his face. “Are you okay? You look kinda sick.”

 

“Oh. Yeah.”

 

Jawn is still looking at him with that worried expression.

 

Geoff sighs. “It’s just… Awsten. A thing with Awsten happened, and. I don’t know. I don’t know what’s gonna happen to, like, our friendship. It was… It was kind of a big thing. You know?”

 

“I figured it must’ve been something like that,” Jawn muses. “Awsten has been holed up in his cabin since you guys got back from your picnic. I think I saw Ciara and Otto in there at some point.”

 

That sends a bitter sting through the hole in Geoff’s chest. “Of course.” Of course they know. Awsten definitely told them everything. Bless the Hermes kids, but they can’t keep secrets for shit. God of messengers needs to tell the message, right? It was embarrassing enough to actually sing to Awsten, let alone knowing how many people are probably gonna hear about it now. And with Ciara being the daughter of Aphrodite… Aphrodite, who is probably laughing at Geoff right now: look how he fell, look at his broken heart, look at the gaping numbness in his chest.

 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Jawn offers, his hand trailing down from Geoff’s shoulder to his elbow. Geoff can’t tell if it’s supposed to be platonic or not. (He can never tell, with Jawn, what’s supposed to be platonic and not.)

 

Geoff swallows around the knot in his throat. “I… just. I did something stupid and I don’t know if he’ll… still want to hang out with me anymore.”

 

“It couldn’t be that bad,” Jawn says, guiding Geoff closer to the dining pavilion.

 

“It was,” Geoff mumbles, suddenly feeling like he can’t breathe. “Jawn, I--”

 

“It’s okay,” the redhead fills in, pulling Geoff into a tight hug. “It’s okay.”

 

“I told him how I feel,” Geoff says into Jawn’s shoulder, voice muffled by Jawn’s T-shirt. “I told him I’m in love with him, and he told me he-- he needs to _think about it.”_

 

“Oh. Oh, Geoff.”

 

“I know.”

 

After a few more moments, Jawn releases Geoff from the hug, putting a hand on the Apollan demigod’s face. “I know you, and I know Awsten-- kind of-- and I’ve seen the way you two are. Even if he doesn’t reciprocate, I know he won’t let that change your friendship. He’s not a douchebag. Okay?”

 

“Okay.”

 

Jawn grins, patting Geoff’s face. “Chin up. Sunshine shouldn’t look so sad,” the son of the rainbow goddess says.

 

“Takes rain to get a rainbow,” Geoff returns, finally finding it in himself to smile, the faintest twitch of his lips.

 

“Attaboy,” Jawn laughs, sauntering over to his own table, leaving Geoff to sit with his cabin.

* * *

 

Awsten eats in record time, anxious to get back to songwriting. He’s never done it before but it fills him with anticipation and excitement. He’s nervous but eager. It’s a strange mental place to be in. He’s scared of losing words.

 

He can see Geoff sitting with his siblings, head down and mechanical in his movements. Fuck, Awsten really hurt him. Geoff was his best friend, basically his other half, but Awsten was the one who did this damage. Almost directly across from the Apollo table, Ciara sits with her Aphrodisian siblings, stealing nervous glances toward Geoff. Awsten wonders if she knows something he doesn’t. She might-- maybe her mom said something to her, or gave her a dream, or something.

 

Awsten looks back down at his plate and pushes his food around with his fork, suddenly heavy with guilt. Why hadn’t he been able to just, I don’t know, jump into Geoff’s arms and declare his mutual affections? Why had he hesitated? He feels like an idiot, and he doesn’t even know if Ciara’s plan will work-- would Geoff really sit and listen to Awsten singing? Will it be sweet or just a slap in the face? What if he decides to reject Awsten? What if Awsten’s too late?

 

He can feel eyes on him and looks up. On the far end of the pavilion, Jawn Rocha sits with his head propped in his hands, his dark glare focused on Awsten. The son of Poseidon swallows hard, nervous. Geoff must have talked to him. He was gonna get beat up by the children of Iris. _Fuck. Stop looking--_

 

Awsten forces himself to move his gaze back down, but he can now acutely feel the daggers being stared in his direction. Those eyes follow him as he finally gets up and starts to leave.

 

Fuck. Fuck, Jawn is following him, shit, fuck--

 

“Awsten,” Jawn commands, voice low. “We should maybe talk.”

 

Awsten’s heart is ready to beat out of his chest. “Oh-- uh-- yeah, okay, sure, uh, what’s up?”

 

But Jawn doesn’t look angry anymore, just… sad. It makes Awsten feel worse than the anger did.

 

“You… told him you’d think about it?” Jawn asks, tilting his head. “Are you thinking about it?”

 

“Of course I am, I haven’t _stopped_ thinking about it,” Awsten huffs, rubbing his eyes. “How can I _not,_ when he-- he looks like a kicked puppy and it’s my fault and I know I need to fix it.”

 

That catches Jawn’s curiosity. “How are you planning on fixing it?”

 

Awsten rubs the back of his neck. “Well, he-- did he talk to you about it? I’m assuming? He… wrote a song for me. And it was so deep and heartfelt that it basically imploded my brain, so that’s why I didn’t just…”

 

“Leap into his arms and kiss him?”

 

“Well-- yeah. Yeah, exactly.” Awsten laughs awkwardly. “So I’m kind of, like… I’m gonna try to return the favor? If that makes sense?”

 

“You’re… writing him a song,” Jawn says slowly, realization lighting up his eyes. He grins. “I _knew_ you reciprocated! With the way you two always fall all over each other, acting like you’re domestic already--”

 

“We are-- we do not!” Awsten sputters, crossing his arms. His posture drops defensively. “I didn’t even know until a few days ago that apparently my crush on him hadn’t gone away.”

 

“How long have you liked him?” Jawn asks.

 

Awsten lets out another awkward laugh. “Uh, since I was like, thirteen? I used to be so jealous of you, dude…”

 

The redhead mimes swooning. “That’s so _cute!”_

 

“Shut up!” Awsten hisses, glancing back at the pavilion. “You’re so loud, dude.”

 

Jawn just giggles. “Well, good luck, man. I know he’ll be happy even if you suck at songwriting.”

 

“Why does everyone think the song’ll suck?” Awsten asks the sky, exasperated.

 

Inspiration hits him three hours later as he struggles through fitting a rhyme scheme to his messy pages of Geoff Feelings. The majority of them were ramblings about his nose ring glinting in the sun, his wide smile, the way he tucks his tongue between his teeth, his hair framed golden in the sunlight. But then Awsten was reminded of the sadness and hollowness in Geoff’s voice and eyes after their picnic, the way he’d moved almost unnaturally, stiff and forced. It strikes an icy fear into Awsten’s heart: what will he do if Geoff doesn’t want to see him again? What will he do if Geoff won’t listen? What will he do if Geoff doesn’t want him around anymore?

 

He doesn’t know what else to do, so he writes and writes and lets it all out until tears of anxiety stain spots on the pages in front of him.

 

He has to get this perfectly. It’s what Geoff deserves. Anything for that sunshine smile to come back.

 

Awsten finishes the words when the moon hangs high in the sky and every other cabin has long since declared lights-out. He stares at the pages in front of him and the final draft in his hand, finally allowing himself to breathe one long exhale and relax.

 

Shit, chords. The whole, y’know, _musical_ part of it.

 

Awsten gently folds up his final draft and tucks it into his guitar strings before climbing into bed. He has all day tomorrow, and he certainly won’t be able to do anything well if he’s sleep-deprived.

* * *

 

“So how’s it going?” Ciara asks, leaning over his shoulder to check out what he’s written.

 

Awsten protectively slaps a hand over the words. “Amazingly, thank you.”

 

She pouts and leans back. “Ready for tonight’s bonfire?”

 

“I think so,” Awsten grins.

 

Ciara returns the expression and gets up. “That’s what I like to hear!”

 

“I think you’re more excited about this than I am!” Awsten calls after her. She just laughs as she walks away, not bothering to turn around.

* * *

 

This is how it goes: Awsten tells Ciara; Ciara tells Otto (and the rest of her cabin); Otto tells Jawn (and, inadvertently and vaguely accidentally, a lot of other campers, as is the nature of messenger demigods, including the majority of the Apollo cabin); Jawn tells Geoff. Well, sort of. It goes more like this:

 

“You’re going to the bonfire tonight, right?” Jawn asks, bumping Geoff’s shoulder with his own.

 

Geoff shrugs. “Yeah, I guess so. Why wouldn’t I?”

 

Jawn gives him a knowing look. “Dude.”

 

“It’s not like we’re avoiding each other!” Geoff says defensively, refusing to meet Jawn’s eyes.

 

Jawn snorts. “Okay, whatever. But I better see you at the bonfire tonight, G.”

 

“Yeah, whatever,” Geoff sighs, eliciting a grin and finger guns from his flame-headed friend.

 

Geoff misses having Awsten around. It’s been, well, less than twenty-four hours, so maybe it sounds a little pathetic and super dependant, but… Awsten is always there. Awsten has always been there. Awsten is his best friend (bless Otto, though. That kid deserves way more than he ever gets-- but Geoff is pretty sure he doesn’t mind. Otto has a lot more confidence than the other two). And now Awsten isn’t here.

 

Are they avoiding each other? He hasn’t gone out of his way to, but Geoff realizes that he hasn’t really put any effort into seeing Awsten either. He didn’t knock on the Poseidon cabin door on his way to breakfast today, didn’t go down to the dock to see where his blue-haired friend is. Does that count as avoidance? It’s not like Awsten has been around to be avoided… Is _Awsten_ avoiding _him?_ Maybe. The thought makes him dizzy and nauseous.

 

Awsten might be at the bonfire tonight. He’s always loved joining in on the Ancient Greek songs, and if Geoff is honest, Awsten has a singing voice to rival any one of Geoff’s siblings.

 

Geoff doesn’t feel as numb today as he had yesterday. The wound isn’t as fresh, maybe. Maybe he’s just getting better at ignoring it. It’s been less than twenty-four hours. He’s not dependant. He can totally stand a day without Awsten right next to him.

 

...Geoff decides to go find where Jawn ran off to. He can admit when he’s feeling lonely. It seems like all his siblings are off, abandoning him for whatever they feel like doing today, big brothers be damned.

 

(It’s been less than twenty-four hours, and he’s nineteen years old, and he has never, in his life, felt more pathetic than he does right now.)

 

Jawn doesn’t say anything about Geoff hovering for the rest of the day. He’s not sure where all of Geoff’s little siblings are, either. Maybe causing chaos in the craft tent, or killing each other with arrows. Not his problem. He’s happy to have Geoff’s company, though. This way he can keep an eye on Geoff, too, to make sure Geoff doesn’t spoil for himself the evening’s plan.

 

According to Otto, who had heard this from Ciara, who apparently had talked to Awsten this morning, Awsten’s little plan was coming along perfectly well and would be ready to go tonight. Jawn is beyond excited to see-- well, more accurately, _hear--_ what Awsten’s got.

 

It dawns on him that Geoff’s siblings might be off canoodling with the son of Poseidon right now. Huh. What a weird thought.

* * *

 

“Okay,” Awsten sighs, allowing himself to smile. “I think we’re good.”

 

Geoff’s spikey-haired little sister high-fives him.

* * *

 

The cool thing about the fires at Camp Half-Blood is the magic of them: when the camp is in a good, boisterous mood, the flames rise high and vibrant. The colors reflect the mood of the campers-- solemn blue, rowdy orange, joyous yellow. As Awsten sits with the satyrs to help them get the fire going, the small flames flicker between a nervous grey-brown and a scaldingly bright pink. Once other demigods get here, it won’t be so attuned to Awsten’s individual emotions, but for now all the satyrs shoot him sly grins and wiggle their eyebrows.

 

The sun dips under the horizon and the rest of camp arrives.

 

Awsten sits in his usual spot, bouncing his leg as he waits for Otto and Geoff to come sit next to him. Otto is there first, sitting on his left, smile wide and bright enough to put the stars to shame. “You ready?” he asks, bumping Awsten’s shoulder with his own.

 

“Ha, ha,” Awsten responds dryly. “Totally.”

 

Geoff steps into the light of the bonfire with Jawn and the other Iris kids. He glances over to Awsten but hesitates. Jawn, noticing this, gives Geoff a friendly shove forward and shoots Awsten a gratuitous wink.

 

“Hi,” Geoff mumbles, sitting on Awsten’s right.

 

Awsten tries to stop bouncing his leg. “Hey.”

 

Otto looks at them and thinks, _Holy shit they’re so bad at this._

 

Despite the awkwardness surrounding the trio, the bonfire glows big and bright and happy, reflecting the upbeat mood of everyone else at camp.

 

“You didn’t bring your guitar?” Otto asks, looking past Awsten to Geoff.

 

Geoff shrugs and picks at a loose thread on his black skinny jeans. “Nah, I guess I forgot it.”

 

“But--” Otto starts to argue. _But you never ‘forget’ it! It’s like another limb!_

 

Awsten cuts him off with an elbow to the ribs. “It’s a good thing some of your siblings brought theirs.”

 

“Yeah,” Geoff mutters, still picking at his jeans. Awsten’s heart sinks, but he reminds himself that everything will be amended soon.

 

The group campfire songs start, all the words Ancient Greek but natural to each camper. Geoff has to admit that despite the negativity he’s been feeling, it’s pleasant to have Awsten next to him again. He just can’t bring himself to sing along.

 

After a couple songs, Awsten feels like he’s going to explode with nerves. Is it too late to back out? Maybe he should just go with the safe route of, y’know, talking to Geoff about his feelings.

 

But then he remembers how satisfying it was to finish something he worked so hard on, and he remembers how much he poured into this, and how much it’ll mean to Geoff when he does it. That steels his resolve. Awsten knows he has to do this, for Geoff and for himself. (And for the forty campers who are anticipating it, because Ciara and Otto combined are absolutely horrible at keeping anything to themselves.)

 

“Hey, Awsten,” Ciara calls from the other side of the bonfire. “Do you wanna lead the next one?”

 

Geoff gives him a weird look as Awsten takes a guitar from one of the other Apollan kids. “You still play?” he asks quietly.

 

“I had a really good teacher,” Awsten grins, trying to stop his hands from shaking.

 

 _Oh._ Warmth blooms in Geoff’s chest, in the place where he’d been picturing the black hole of numbness that he’d been feeling for the past twenty-four hours. It was the realization that Awsten was up to something-- something good. Really, really good.

 

The intro was simple, some of the most basic guitar chords to know: Gs and Ds. Awsten does his best to keep the rhythm steady but there’s still a little tremor from nervousness in his strumming.

 

“If you died I hope you’d haunt me,” he sings softly. “Cause you know I’d miss you bad. There’s something I haven’t told before.”

 

Geoff realizes how Awsten must have felt being serenaded, because he’s frozen-- completely still, completely in disbelief.

 

“And if I left, I’d hope you’d stop me

and kick my boxes from the left.

Keep me ‘round to see what I’d endure.”

 

It sounds like an apology. Geoff is enraptured.

 

Awsten looks up at him through his blue fringe and croons, “Cause I’m dying to be… your everything, everything.”

 

As he launches into the chorus, Geoff’s heart beats out of control. He wants to cry, but like… in a good way. In a “I can’t believe this is happening to me-- to _me!”_ way.

 

“You know I’ll always be around.

I’ll never, never, never leave you hanging

out… to dry…

Because the world’s gonna pass me by.

But if you… wanted…

I’d never, never, never leave you,

leave your side.

I’d never, never, never leave you out to dry.

I’d never, never, never get you off my mind.”

 

Awsten feels himself getting more confident, ignoring all the eyes on them as he strums through the break between chorus and verse. He imagines that Geoff has a similar expression to what Awsten’s had been: wide-eyed, deer-in-the-headlights, lips parted in surprise. Geoff realizes, belatedly, that his own siblings are echoing and harmonizing.

 

Geoff forces himself to school his expression, embarrassed about being so caught off-guard.

 

The next verse starts out as soft as the first:

 

“When you’re out, I miss you badly,” Awsten sings, quiet like it’s just him and Geoff and no one else. “I write you songs like this today. There’s something I haven’t told before.”

 

The next few lines, _those_ are the apology, the explanation, the asking for forgiveness:

 

“You stopped me in my tracks,

you caught me in a gaze.

It’s just one of the things that I just can’t help these days.”

 

After that, it’s the hook and the chorus again. Geoff gets shivers from the way Awsten sings, “I’m dying to be… your everything… everything.” He’s much more confident the second time around, lets more inflection into his voice. Awsten is certainly talented, that’s for sure.

 

“If there ever came a dark day

That crushed us out and took you away,

I’d chase you to the end;

I’d chase you to the end

of… the… world.”

 

The bridge is followed up by the chorus, starting with the hook that still gives Geoff goosebumps. Awsten starts letting his own guitar part fade, ending the song softly with the last two lines of the chorus again:

 

“I’d never, never, never leave you out to dry… I’d never, never, never get you off my mind…”

 

They sit and stare at each other for a few seconds. Awsten slowly sets down his guitar. “Geoff,” he starts, completely prepared to formally apologize and give an actual speech.

 

Geoff cuts him off by pushing himself forward and kissing Awsten, hands fitting to the blue-haired boy’s hips like that was where they were made to be. Awsten’s hands fly up into Geoff’s hair, holding him there. Jawn whistles.

 

Awsten grins into the kiss, pulling away slightly. “So we’re okay?” he whispers.

 

“Perfectly,” Geoff answers. He’s giving Awsten one of those wide, tooth-baring grins that are bright as the sun.

 

Awsten wants to bask in that smile forever; instead, he whispers, “I double dare you to kiss me again.”

 

It’s not one that Geoff has difficulty obliging.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW WE DID IT!! we've reached the end!  
> sorry that it took a bit longer than 2 weeks to get here. it's the longest chapter by a whopping 1100 words and also i live in a dorm now WHOA. thanks for all your guys' patience and love while i was writing this<3
> 
> FINAL NOTE: lmk if y'all want an epilogue (this is just fishing for comments. y'all are getting an epilogue anyway. and probably some plot bunnies in addition. hell yeah.)


	8. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geoff's birthday!

Geoff is rudely awoken by all of his siblings-- fuck, what were there, nine of them?-- dogpiling onto his bed and giggling.

 

“Guys,” he groans. “I can’t breathe.”

 

“Happy birthday, Geoff!” they all chorus, writhing around like a pile of snakes trying to get comfortable.

 

“You’re old now,” one of his little brothers says in a deadpan.

 

“I’m not  _ that _ old,” he grumbles, trying to wedge his arms to his chest so that he has better leverage for pushing them all off. “Seriously, kiddos, I love you guys but I need oxygen.”

 

“Don’t call me ‘kiddo,’ I’m fifteen!”

 

When he finally gets them up and ready, they race ahead of him to the dining pavilion for breakfast. Geoff stops to knock on the barnacle-crusted door of Cabin #3. “Hey, Awsten,” he calls, leaning against the doorframe. “You up?”

 

There’s no reply. Geoff frowns. That means either Awsten is seriously dead asleep, or somehow he’s already up and eating early. Geoff had been hoping they could walk together, but it’s not a big deal. He’ll just find his blue-haired boyfriend later.

 

As Geoff reaches the dining pavilion, his siblings are crowded around their table with shit-eating grins. Jawn, Otto, and Ciara are sitting with them. Amongst the regular magically-provided breakfast food is a tall birthday cake and a couple neatly wrapped gifts. Well, one of them is neat. The other is neatly wrapped enough for the bizarre, bulky shape of the gift itself. For a few years now, the Apollo kids have brought it upon themselves to collaboratively hand-make Geoff’s birthday gift. He has a mug from his eighteenth birthday that he still uses regularly, and the notebook he uses is a leatherbound piece that his cabin put together for him last year for his nineteenth.

 

“Cake for breakfast?” he asks in his best dad-voice, frowning.

 

One of his little brothers pouts. “It’s Funfetti, though.”

 

Geoff has to take a deep breath to stop himself from cracking. “ _ Funfetti?” _ he gasps. Then he finally lets himself laugh. “Okay, well, I guess that makes it okay.”

 

The table collectively cheers, immediately diving in to divvy up the cake and its layers. Geoff himself just goes for a plate of pancakes, squeezing himself onto the end of the bench next to Otto.

 

“Have you seen Awsten?” he asks, glancing around.

 

Otto shrugs evasively. “I think I saw him an hour or so ago.”

 

_ An  _ hour _ ago? _ Geoff frowns, cutting into his stack of pancakes.  _ How early did Awsten get up? _

 

_ And where the fuck is he? _

 

“Hey, you should open you gifts!” Ciara suggests, eyes glittering with excitement.

 

“Mine first!” Jawn all but screeches, grabbing the neatly-wrapped smaller gift.

 

“Uh,  _ no! _ Our cabin gift  _ always _ goes first!” growls one of the older Apollo kids, threateningly starting to rise from her seat. The effect is a little lost with the sprinkles/frosting stuck to her chin and the corners of her mouth. Despite that, Jawn sighs and sits back.

 

Geoff reaches for the bulky, oddly-shaped package. It’s a little more than three feet long with a flat bottom but a weird, hexagonal shape, peaking at about a foot tall. He quite frankly can’t tell what it is. As soon as he starts ripping into it, though, it becomes obvious.

 

“Holy shit, guys,” he breathes.

 

The wrapping is a lie. One of his siblings had purposely added cardboard pieces to change the shape of the wrapped product. It’s an acoustic guitar with clean, bright strings. The frets shine gold, the neck itself decorated with small golden leaves. At the top of the head is a laurel wreath with the number  _ 7 _ in its center. At the base of the body is a raven, the bird of Apollo, its wings spread so that one frames the pickboard.

 

It’s the most beautiful instrument he’s ever seen. When he gives its strings an experimental strum, each one is in perfect tune.

 

“Holy shit,” he repeats. “Thank you so much, guys. This is incredible.”

 

He gingerly leans it against the table and turns to Jawn, who hands him the smaller gift, this one obviously (smartly) in a regular box. Geoff carefully unwraps it and pulls open the flaps to find a few picture frames: the first, framed in black metal, is a selfie he and Jawn had taken back when Jawn had first gotten his new camera. The next is from last summer, framed in gold: Otto, Awsten, and Geoff all posed with their arms around each other while Jawn took their photo. The third is a candid shot of Geoff and Awsten sitting on the dock, shoulders pressed together. Underneath all the framed photos is a piece of paper.

 

_ “Step 1: Go to the Hermes cabin.” _

 

Geoff looks at Otto, who grins. “You can finish your breakfast first, if you want.”

 

When they get to the Hermes cabin, Otto instructs Geoff to wait outside. He returns with a small bundle in his arms: Geoff’s jacket and wallet that had been stolen a few weeks prior.

 

“Happy birthday!” Otto says cheerily, passing Geoff’s stuff to him.

 

Geoff raises his eyebrows. “You’re giving me back things that your siblings stole.”

 

“That’s how we do birthdays in Cabin 11,” Otto grins.

 

There’s a sticky note on Geoff’s wallet.

 

_ “Clue #2: Bullseye!” _

 

Geoff frowns at the note. “What the fuck does this mean?”

 

Otto just laughs. “Dude, it’s a clue game.”

 

After a second, Geoff makes a noise of realization and rushes off to the archery field. There, he finds an arrow lodged into one of the target’s bullseye, pinning a piece of paper. The next clue reads,  _ “The pen is mightier than the sword, but your next clue hides in the armory.” _

 

Geoff likes the straightforwardness of this one, but then he steps into the armory and realizes how fucking long it’s gonna take to find a piece of paper in here. It’s dimly lit and there’s a hundred weapons scattered around, some hanging off the walls and others sitting on shelves. After several minutes of carefully shuffling through swords and lances, Geoff turns over a shield and finds the next clue taped to its underside.

 

_ “Next clue: where you made me stupid for you.” _

 

_ Okay, _ Geoff thinks.  _ It’s a line from my song. Where do Awsten and I hang out all the time? ‘Where you made me stupid for you…’ _

 

He can’t figure out where-- or when-- Awsten has ever not been confident and collected. Awsten, stupid for Geoff? And it’s obviously a nod to Geoff’s song… 

 

The clearing in the forest.

 

Geoff is breathing heavily by the time he finishes his hike through the forest. He steps into the circle and looks around, unsure whether this is supposed to be the endgame or if there’s another clue left here for him.

 

A giggling dryad steps into the clearing and hands Geoff a mixed bouquet of sunflowers, hyacinths, and forget-me-nots.

 

“Sunflowers for admiration,” the dryad cooes. “Hyacinths have a few meanings: the blue ones say ‘consistency,’ and the white say ‘loveliness.’ In general, they represent games. Both for the son of Apollo.”

 

“What about the forget-me-nots?” Geoff asks.

 

“True love, of course,” she answers with a dreamy smile, eyes hazy and far away.

 

Butterflies erupt in Geoff’s stomach and he can’t help but smile dreamily himself. “Am I supposed to get a clue from you, too?” he asks.

 

The dryad giggles again. “Just that he’s on the beach by Long Island Sound. Don’t go to the canoe lake or you’ll miss him.”

 

Camp is bordered by several land features: to the southeast is Half-Blood Hill, which guards Camp from the eyes of mortals that travel along the road there. The western border is the forest, and the northern border is Long Island Sound. The whole area is surrounded by a magical line that prevents mortals from crossing it.

 

Geoff heads out of the forest and up to the beach. It’s more of a trek than the canoe lake, which is why most of the time he and Awsten go to that dock instead. Long Island Sound doesn’t have a dock, just a beach, and the only times Camp ever goes there is for watching fireworks. The Fourth of July is in just three days-- everyone is excited to see what the Hephaestus kids have cooked up this year.

 

As he steps onto the beach, Geoff spots Awsten’s pile of shoes, socks, and shirt, and pulls off his own next to them. He gently sets the bouquet next to them and walks closer to the ocean. The waves wash over his feet and he shivers; it’s still early enough in the day that the water is cold from the night.

 

He stands and breathes in the salty ocean air for a few moments, closing his eyes and enjoying the breeze on his face. Obviously Awsten is around somewhere, so Geoff suddenly finds himself no longer in a rush. He’s content knowing his boyfriend is somewhere nearby.

 

A few moments later, Geoff’s peace is interrupted by a familiar voice swearing colorfully. “I thought the dryad’s clue would’ve taken you longer!” Awsten complains, stepping out of the ocean perfectly dry.

 

Geoff laughs, reaching out for his boyfriend. “She just told me to come here.”

 

“Dryads,” Awsten grumbles, leaning into Geoff’s embrace, tucking his face into the crook of Geoff’s neck.

 

Geoff tightens his arms around Awsten’s waist. “I like the flowers, though.”

 

“Good,” Awsten says, smiling against Geoff’s skin.

 

After a moment, Awsten steps back and takes Geoff’s hand. “Ready?” he asks, pulling his boyfriend farther into the water.

 

Geoff follows him without question. They walk until the water covers their heads and they keep going. Geoff looks up and admires how the sunlight refracts through the waves, trying to ignore the icky, muddy feeling between his toes. Awsten catches him making a face and laughs. There’s a sudden drop where the bottom of Long Island Sound becomes rocky and twenty feet deeper; Awsten jumps and pulls the water around them so that they sink down. They stand there, just looking around for a few moments.

 

Finally, Awsten whispers, “Happy birthday.”

 

Geoff kisses him. He tangles his fingers in the floating blue tresses of Awsten’s hair with one and and wraps the other around Awsten’s waist. Awsten wraps his arms around Geoff’s neck and presses close to him. They stay there for a long time, drifting as the minor currents push and pull them. They don’t have to worry about coming up for air as long as Awsten doesn’t let go of Geoff.

* * *

 

The rest of Geoff’s birthday is spent like any other midsummer day at Camp Half-Blood: archery competitions, a few hours in the crafts tent, and now with the bonus of holding Awsten’s hand however much he wants.

 

At dinner, the whole camp choruses the most horrific, screeching, demonic-sounding rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ that Geoff has ever heard. He laughs through it and adores every second of it. Instead of cake, there are cupcakes, enough for every camper and satyr to get one. Geoff’s has 20 candles crammed onto it, and when one of the Ares kids lights them, it’s the most terrifying cupcake to ever exist.

 

Just like the singing, Geoff loves it. He can’t stop smiling as he takes four tries to blow out every single candle; then he has to pick out all the wax pieces, and at that point the cupcake’s frosting is a lost cause. It’s okay. The cake itself is still delicious.

 

As the sun starts inching towards the horizon, turning the sky a dusty pink, Otto sidles up to Geoff and whispers, “Hey, when you’re done, I was told to tell you to go to the strawberry fields.”

 

Geoff furrows his brow and looks to Awsten, who shrugs. “I don’t know, man,” he admits. “It’s not me.”

 

“That’s weird,” Geoff mutters, glancing around and doing a head-count of who might be wanting to see him privately.  _ Jawn is here; Ciara; Otto and Awsten are with me; one, two, threefourfive, six, seveneight, nine-- all my siblings are here… _

 

Curious, Geoff wipes the stray frosting from his fingers and chastely kisses the corner of Awsten’s mouth. “I’m gonna go.”

 

“Can I come with?” Awsten pleads, wrapping his fingers around Geoff’s wrist. Geoff shrugs, so Awsten scrambles to his feet.

 

When they finally get to the strawberry field, they meanders through the patches for a minute before spotting a sitting figure several yards away. Geoff’s stomach drops and swoops.

 

“Dad?” he calls, quickening his pace.

 

Apollo looks up at his son, his skin glowing faintly gold in the low light. He looks older than Awsten has ever seen him-- after all, Apollo is the image of young adulthood, the beardless poet and eternally youthful athlete. But now, he looks less eighteen and more thirty-five-- still beautiful, but more in a ‘hot dad’ way than a ‘hot college kid’ way. Awsten assumes this is because, well, he can’t come across as younger than his oldest son, right?

 

“Hey, kiddo,” the sun god smiles, getting to his feet. “Happy birthday.”

 

He offers out his arms for a hug, and Geoff doesn’t hesitate. He’s only ever met his dad twice before, so each time has been special. He feels like a little kid, tucking his head under Apollo’s chin and closing his eyes.

 

Awsten stands back a ways, trying not to intrude on such a private moment.

 

Apollo gives his son a squeeze. “I’m proud of you, Geoff. And I’m happy that you’re so happy.”

 

“Thank you,” Geoff whispers, choking up.

 

Apollo releases him from the embrace and laughs nervously. “I mean, Aphrodite and I definitely had a few spats on how much interference we should’ve run, but--”

 

“What?!”

 

“Hey! You got the boy anyway,” Apollo grins. It’s a blindingly bright sunshine smile, and Awsten realizes where Geoff gets it from.

 

“That… explains a lot,” Awsten admits, moving a little closer now that the tender moment is over. “I mean, Ciara always kinda acted like she knew something was going to happen…”

 

“Listen, I completely backed your serenading plan! Aphrodite just thought you two could’ve moved things along a little faster--”

 

Geoff covers his blush with his hands.  _ “Dad.” _

 

“What?”

 

“For my birthday, can we  _ not _ talk about my lovelife being prime Olympus TV drama?”

 

Apollo brightens ( _ how is that possible?  _ Awsten thinks, stunned) and holds up a hand. “I do actually have a gift for you, since twenty is such a big number for a demigod!”

 

He reaches over his shoulder and produces a quiver of 3 golden arrows. The fletchings are raven feathers threaded with gold, and when Geoff pulls one from the quiver, he sees the detailed, decorative arrowheads.

 

“They’re beautiful,” he says, eyes wide.

 

“Almost light-speed, no matter what weight or class your bow,” Apollo says proudly. “And as soon as they hit a target, they’ll appear right back in your quiver.”

 

Geoff almost cries tears of joy at the thought of never having to chase down arrows again. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

 

Apollo winks at his son, then turns to the blue-haired son of Poseidon. “You take care of my son, now,” he says, and it’s the dadliest that Apollo has ever sounded.

 

Awsten grins. “Yes, sir!”

 

“Don’t call me ‘sir,’” Apollo gags. “That makes me sound old.”

 

“You’re… immortal…”

 

“Still younger than Zeus,” the sun god grins, tossing up finger guns. “Anyway, that’s what I stopped by for. Love ya bunchies, kiddo,” he says to Geoff, throwing an arm around his son’s shoulders. “I hope it’s a good one. And next year, for your twenty-first, we’ll have a  _ real _ party. Dionysus and I have  _ everything _ planned out already!” Apollo pauses, ignoring the exasperated expression on Geoff’s face. “Well, that is, if you don’t get killed by monsters between now and then. Good luck!”

 

With that cheerful goodbye, the god disappears in a burst of light; at the same time, the sun dips under the horizon, leaving the sky streaked purple, blue, and red.

 

“Your dad is fucking  _ awesome,” _ Awsten laughs.

 

Geoff slings the quiver over his shoulder and grabs Awsten’s hand, pulling his boyfriend closer. “He’s alright, I guess.”

 

The full moon lights their way back to the cabins. Geoff walks Awsten right up to his door and kisses him goodnight.

 

“Good birthday?” Awsten asks.

 

“Perfect,” Geoff answers, kissing him again.

 

Awsten leans back against the door of Cabin 3 and pulls Geoff closer. Geoff puts his hands on Awsten’s hips and leans against him, humming into Awsten’s mouth. The son of Poseidon tastes like raspberries and sea salt; Geoff never wants to stop kissing him.

 

Yeah. It’s a hell of a twentieth birthday. And the summer’s only halfway through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay epilogue!  
> in case you didn't notice.... this is now part of a ~series~!  
> the other two works in this ~series~ are a collection of drabbles and a collection of aesthetics/moodboards, and i'm taking requests/suggestions for both!  
> thanks for reading!  
> xo, jack

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi to me on tumblr! @ varilia


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